The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States

Edited by Eric C. Miller - Contributions by Miles C. Coleman; Jonathan J. Edwards; Matthew Hawkins; Cody Hawley; Andre E. Johnson; Lara Lengel; Joe C. Martin; Stephanie A. Martin; Eric C. Miller; Elizabeth A. Petre; James T. Petre; Robin Reames; Adam Smidi; Michael G. Strawser and Sarah Walker

Though much has already been written on religious freedom in the United States, these treatments have come mostly from historians, legal scholars, and advocates, with relatively little attention from rhetorical critics. In The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States, fifteen scholars from this field address the variety of forms that free, public religiosity may assume, and which rhetorical techniques are operative in a public square populated by a diversity of religious-political actors. Together they consider the arguments, evidences, and strategies defining what religious freedom means and who is entitled to claim it in the contemporary United States.

Lexington Books

Pages: 232 • Trim: 6½ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-6148-8 • Hardback • November 2017 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4985-6150-1 • Paperback • July 2020 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-6149-5 • eBook • July 2020 • $39.50 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Though much has already been written on religious freedom in the United States, these treatments have come mostly from historians, legal scholars, and advocates, with relatively little attention from rhetorical critics. In The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States, fifteen scholars from this field address the variety of forms that free, public religiosity may assume, and which rhetorical techniques are operative in a public square populated by a diversity of religious-political actors. Together they consider the arguments, evidences, and strategies defining what religious freedom means and who is entitled to claim it in the contemporary United States.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 232 • Trim: 6½ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-6148-8 • Hardback • November 2017 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-4985-6150-1 • Paperback • July 2020 • $44.99 • (£35.00)

978-1-4985-6149-5 • eBook • July 2020 • $39.50 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

Author

Eric C. Miller is assistant professor of communication studies at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Eric C. Miller
Chapter 1
Reinhold Niebuhr’s Rhetorical Legacy: Democratic Community and Religious Freedom
Cody Hawley
Chapter 2
Persuasive Ambassadors: The Southern Baptist Commitment to Religious Freedom for All
Michael Strawser, Matthew Hawkins, and Joe C. Martin
Chapter 3
Differing Definitions: How Conservative Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants Frame Freedom
Stephanie A. Martin
Chapter 4
Negotiating Religious Freedom in US Catholic Responses to Vaccine Science
Miles C. Coleman
Chapter 5
Freedom for Whom? The Contested Terrain of Religious Freedom for Muslims in the United States
Adam Smidi and Lara Lengel
Chapter 6
“Not About Discrimination:” Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and the Question of Intent
Eric C. Miller
Chapter 7
Religious Freedom and the Marketplace
James T. Petre
Chapter 8
Kim Davis vs. the Gay(ze): A Problematic Response to Religious Freedom Advocates
Sarah Walker
Chapter 9
Evangelized Scandals: Religious Freedom and Cultural Politics at Wheaton College
Robin Reames
Chapter 10
Environmental Protection and Religious Freedom: The Case of the Dakota Access Pipeline
Elizabeth A. Petre
Chapter 11
“What Do You Have to Lose?” Donald Trump, Religious Freedom, and the African American Vote
Andre E. Johnson
Chapter 12
Is Trump Also Among the Fundamentalists? Religious Freedom and the Fight to Repeal the Johnson Amendment
Jonathan J. Edwards
About the Contributors

Reviews

Miller has collected a number of diverse and useful rhetorical studies to demonstrate the importance of religious freedom in the contemporary public imaginary and its representative discourse. It is a welcome addition to and unique representation of rhetorical scholarship.
— Steven Goldzwig, Marquette University

Freedom of religion remains a contentious issue in American public culture. Across 12 timely chapters, The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States illustrates the myriad of ways in which the concept of religious freedom becomes negotiated in political, legal, and social spheres. By addressing the issue through a rhetorical framework, this collection contributes an important perspective to ongoing controversies and speaks to the complex negotiation of American values.
— Leslie J. Harris, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United Statesis a timely collection of essays that together highlight the diversity of ways that religious traditions and political actors speak about religious freedom. The volume should be of interest to a wide variety of audiences, including both qualitatively and quantitatively minded scholars. In a scholarly world in which the deluge of research makes it all too easy to only pay attention to one’s own field, this collection of essays by Communication and Rhetoric scholars serves as a reminder of the importance and benefits of engaging scholarship from other disciplines.
— Politics and Religion