Ambiguity, Controversy, and the Limits of Language as The Bearer of The Sacred
Ambiguity, Controversy, and the Limits of Language as The Bearer of The Sacred
Political rhetoric employs references to the religious traditions and providential prospects of the nation and uses religious language to solemnize public oath‐taking. The more that public religiosity and civil religion receive political patronage at the center, the more do marginal or minority groups take religious offense at majoritarian pretenses. Even the political center, however, is divided between those who view the sacred as inhering in a strict interpretation of particular texts and those for whom the sacred has more evanescent, negotiable, and contestable meanings. These divisions surfaced in the Senate debates over the articles of impeachment of President Clinton. Thus, secularization underscores the importance of language while reducing sacred speech to discourse.
Keywords: civil religion, impeachment, language, oaths, political, rhetoric, sacred, secularization, speech, texts
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
