Name

Professor Martin

English 1301

01 February 2008
Romney’s Faith in Religious Freedom
          What is it that makes America such a great country? According to Mitt Romney, it is our religious liberty. On December 6, 2007, Romney delivered a speech titled “Faith in America” that addressed the issues of religious differences in America. This speech was held at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas where he spoke against removing God from our Pledge, currency, and history. With the appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos Romney persuades his audience to embrace faith in America. 
           First of all, to ensure the people that he is a credible man, Romney references his governmental experiences and gives them the impression he is honest and trustworthy. He said to his audience, “As Governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution.” In this statement, Romney exposes his experience when he mentions his past role as Governor of Massachusetts. This gives the people a reason to believe he knows what he is talking about in the political realm. This statement also builds an impression that Romney is a virtuous man who abides by the law when he says he serves the law and answers to the Constitution. Another time in the speech Romney mentions his family: “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King. I saw my parents provide compassionate care to others, in personal ways to people nearby, and in just as consequential ways leading national volunteer movements.” Letting his audience know he comes from a moral family leads them to the conclusion he was raised to be a compassionate and giving man. Romney also admits his family is “a long way from perfect” and has “stumbled along the way”. He is viewed as a humble man when he admits flaws in his family. Throughout his speech, Romney represents himself to be worthy of the presidential position. 
          Furthermore, Romney continues to exert the appeal of ethos as he gives himself as an example for faith continuing in America. At one point he says, “I’ll also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my presidency, if I were elected.” Standing up for what he believes in, Romney declares that he himself would keep his faith involved in the government. He appears as an honest man when he claims he is not a believer of convenience and says, “Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they’re right, so be it.” Here Romney is showing integrity when he says he is not willing to lie about his religion in order to win the vote. Being an honorable man, Romney tries to convince the people that faith should remain in America by indicating how he would allow his own faith to guide his presidency. 
          Another technique Romney uses is pathos when he references the emotional sacrifices of American soldiers for our freedom. While doing this, he argues we must not throw away our religious liberty which is included in the freedom we have worked so hard for. In the beginning of his speech, Romney says, “It’s a moving reminder that when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise to the occasion, willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation.” This statement refreshes the audience’s memory of the sacrifices of our troops in Iraq which is an emotional subject for many people. He goes even further and flashes back to the past when “the lives of hundreds of thousands of America’s sons and daughters were laid down during the last century to preserve freedom, for us and for freedom loving people throughout the world.” Romney is reminding his audience of the World Wars and the tragic times America went through in order to keep its freedom.  He makes his point clear: we have sacrificed so much to protect our religious freedom from other countries, so how can we allow ourselves to hinder that liberty by banning religion in schools, government, and public buildings?
          Along with emotional reminders, Romney uses the appeal of pathos in his speech when he creates a sense of unity among all religions in America. Human equality, the obligation to serve others, and commitment to liberty are the strings that tie us together, according to Romney. He claims, “They belong to the great moral inheritance we hold in common. They’re the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united.” Those who hear this statement are given the feeling that different religions are not so different, but that they all have that same moral core. Once again, Romney creates a sense of oneness when he lists the good qualities of popular religions: “I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the Evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims.”  By pointing out the good qualities of these religions, the people are able to see some similarities between their own religion and other religions. 
          Another approach towards feelings is Romney’s use of narratives and emotional words. Near the end of his speech, Romney says, “In such a world, we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty, joined against the evils and dangers of the day.” He creates a narrative for his audience to easily imagine reason and religion as the antidote for problems in America. In the same paragraph, Romney says, “We welcome our nation’s symphony of faith.” The word “symphony” gives the impression there is peacefulness among the different religions. Romney emphasizes unity among all religions in America so his audience will see it is not necessary to remove faith from America.
          In contrast to emotions, logic and common sense are the most frequent methods of argument that Romney uses to convince his audience that we must keep our religious freedom. At one point he states, “Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.” Although Romney does not give evidence for this bold statement, it is rational to draw the conclusion that if we take away religion from America, we take away freedom as well. Also, Romney assures the people his religion will not dominate America if he is elected when he reports, “I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.” Thus, there is no need to remove his faith from the government if he is there to serve all religions. Another time he adds, “No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes President he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.” He is once again reassuring the public his faith would not become the faith of America. It is logical to conclude that faith will not cause the President to serve a certain religion when he is there to serve the common cause of all the people.
          In addition to using common sense, Romney gives examples of our roots to rationally persuade America to keep its faith. Early in the speech he makes it known that, “There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they’re at odds with the nation’s Founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator.” Here, Romney is pointing out that our country was founded on faith and if we begin to remove faith from our government, we will be taking away something important from our very foundation. Again he urges the people to follow the example of our Founding Fathers: “We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word. He should remain our – on our currency, in our Pledge, in the teaching of our history.” Even though this assertion is a little misleading, since God wasn’t added to our coins until the Civil War or to our Pledge until 1954, Romney is still able to persuade his audience to believe what he is driving at. He is able to do this because it is obvious that we do have God in our Pledge, history, and currency because our Founders based this country on religious ideas. 
          Similarly, Romney gives a sample of other nations and compares them to America to convince his audience that we should embrace our religious liberty. He points out, “The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe’s churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away.” Romney points out how Europe’s state religion is destroying the church, thus America must not establish a religion, but embrace religious freedom. He goes on and gives another example: “Infinitely worse is the other extreme: the creed of conversion by conquest – violent Jihad, murder as martyrdom, killing Christians, Jews, and Muslims with equal indifference.” To avoid this kind of tyranny in America, we must learn to tolerate other religions and not inflict suffering on those with differing beliefs. Romney uses these kinds of examples to persuade the people that faith must remain in America. 
          In conclusion, we can clearly see that Romney uses ethos, pathos, and logos to convince his audience we need faith in America. Even though Romney appeals to his audience’s rationality the most, his logical arguments are not as strong as his arguments with emotions and personal imagery. However, no matter what appeal he uses, Romney is constantly trying to prevail upon the people this one point: faith is fundamental to the greatness of America and it should not be removed.  

   

Works Cited

Romney, Mitt. “Faith in America.” College Station, Texas. American Rhetoric. 06  December 2007. 28 January 2008
              < http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mittromneyfaithinamerica.htm>.

Romney, Mitt. “Faith in America.” College Station, Texas. Mitt Romney. 06 December 2007. 28 January 2008
              < http://www.mittromney.com/News/Speeches/Faith_In_America>.