Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century

Michael-John DePalma, professor of English and director of professional writing and rhetoric at Baylor University, is the author of Sacred Rhetorical Education in 19th Century America: Austin Phelps at Andover Theological Seminary. He is also coeditor of Mapping Christian Rhetorics: Connecting Conversations, Charting New Territories.Paul Lynch, associate professor of English at Saint Louis University, is the author of After Pedagogy: The Experience of Teaching and coeditor with Nathaniel Rivers of Thinking with Bruno Latour in Rhetoric and Composition (SIU Press).Jeff Ringer is an associate professor of rhetoric, writing, and linguistics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is the author of Vernacular Christian Rhetoric and Civil Discourse: The Religious Creativity of Evangelical Student Writers and coeditor of Mapping Christian Rhetorics.

“Exceptional, even necessary, reading—not only as a starting place for those interested in broadening discussions of rhetoric and religion but for those seeking to challenge their own thinking about the coherence of the ‘rhetorical tradition.’”—Roger Thompson, author of Emerson and the History of Rhetoric“Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century: Pluralism in a Postsecular Age confirms the centrality of religious rhetorics to our discipline and to our nation's civic health. The book's exceptionally argued chapters and compelling interludes masterfully engage Indigenous, Jewish, Arab-Islamic, and Buddhist perspectives and think intersectionally about religion's connection to race, culture, gender, and sexuality. This collection is a must read for teachers and students of rhetoric who must see critical engagements with religion as key concerns for pluralism.”—Jessica Enoch, author of Domestic Occupations: Spatial Rhetorics and Women’s Work“This excellent collection is an inclusive, pluralistic example of the next stage in rhetoric’s contribution to the religious turn in the human sciences. The essays provide valuable general accounts of current approaches to reconceiving the interdisciplinary study of traditional religious rhetorics. Also included are chapter interludes with engaging narratives of how authors entered the field.”—Steven Mailloux, author of Rhetoric's Pragmatism: Essays in Rhetorical Hermeneutics“With Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century: Pluralism in a Postsecular Age, DePalma, Lynch, Ringer, and their contributors continue a set of important conversations—not only about the role of religion in rhetoric, but also about the hybridity of rhetorical tradition(s) writ large. Deliberately building on previous work about rhetoric and religion and by challenging monolithic perspectives, the volume's essays and unique commentary interludes will encourage, if not demand, other useful scholarship to benefit the field of rhetoric and composition.”—Deborah H. Holdstein, author of Lost Texts in Rhetoric and Composition and coauthor of Judaic Perspectives in Rhetoric and Composition“At this contentious cultural moment, when religious identity is used to draw political boundaries and encourage factionalism, the diverse and illuminating contributions to this volume complicate flattened conceptions of religion in the US and call for renewed appreciation of scholarship rooted in faith. This compelling collection dismisses acts of token tolerance and instead embraces rhetorical contemplation, interanimation, and resonance in the search for religious plurality. Readers come away both critical of shortsighted academic condescension aimed at religion and equipped to incorporate religious rhetoric into classroom discussions—a remarkable achievement.”—LynÉe Lewis Gaillet, coeditor of Remembering Women Differently: Refiguring Rhetorical Work“The coeditors of Rhetoric and Religion in the Twenty-First Century: Pluralism in a Postsecular Age offer a kaleidoscope of insight into the persuasive and rhetorical impact of differing religious traditions, announcing for the reader the good, the bad, and the problematic inherent within the rhetorical power of religious influence. I recommend this work as a touchstone for conversation about a perennial topic of unification and dispute, religion.”—Ronald Arnett, author of Communication Ethics and Tenacious Hope: Contemporary Implications of the Scottish Enlightenment

• CONTENTSAcknowledgmentsForeword: Martin CamperIntroduction: Michael-John DePalma, Paul Lynch, and Jeff RingerSection 1: Interrogating Rhetorics1.“To Do Things in a Good (Decolonial) Way: Putting Indigenous Rhetorics and Rhetorics of Religion in Conversation,” by Lisa KingInterlude: Patricia Bizzell2.“Feminist Rhetorical Historiography and Religion,” by Lisa ZimmerelliInterlude: Beth Daniell3.“‘Joy Anyway!’ Narratives of Harm and Flourishing at the Intersections of Religious and LGBTQ+ Rhetorics,” by TJ Geiger, IIIInterlude: Beverly Moss4.“We Are Not Born for Ourselves Alone: Jesuit Rhetoric for the Twenty-First Century,” by John Brereton and Cinthia GannettInterlude: Laurent PernotSection 2: Inventing Rhetorics5.“Creating Pathways for Ethical (Inter)Actions: New Directions for Jewish Rhetorics,” by Janice W. FernheimerInterlude: Patricia Roberts-Miller6.“Rhetoric and Buddhism Unchained,” by Kurt SpellmeyerInterlude: Elizabeth Vander Lei7.“Engaging with Arab-Islamic Religious Rhetorics: Why It Matters to Rhetorical Studies,” by Rasha DiabInterlude: Robert Yagelski8.“Race at the Intersection of Rhetoric and Religion,” by Andre E. JohnsonAfterword: Jonathan AlexanderContributorsIndex