Rethinking Religio-Political Rhetoric: Civil Religion or Religious Rhetorical Form?

• In Event: God Talk in the White House: Rhetorical Accounts of Presidential Discourse

Abstract

This essay revisits Civil Religion as applied in the American context by sociologist Robert N. Bellah. While the idea has been both lauded and criticized, it has become the dominant theoretical conceptualization of religious rhetoric in political discourse. While the concept remains theoretically and methodologically valid, several case studies of historical and contemporary presidential rhetoric suggest that a new theoretical conceptualization—religious rhetorical form—may prove more fruitful, particularly in instances of contemporary presidential rhetoric.

Author

• David Bailey, Texas A&M Univ