Rhetorical Analysis of Political Controversies in Religious Tolerance

RHETORICAL ANALYSIS
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The mayor of the New York City came to the defense and support of religious tolerance amidst the plans for an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero. The plans resulted in political controversy with political big-wigs not only possessing but publicly declaring their hardstands regarding the plans. The mayor is infamous for public exhibition of emotion. As such his speech surprised some not only his audience but also several observers. Religious tolerance is currently referred to as ‘New Tolerance.’ In his speech, Michael utilizes all the three artistic proofs of pathos, ethos, and logos, to deliver an effective and moving speech, which would result in support for his cause.
His ethical appeal is already evident from the fact that he is the NYC Mayor. His position and authority, therefore, presumably grants him the moral and ethical benefit of the doubt to be credible. It is always expected that a person’s social or corporate position should act to announce his or her reputation way before even the individual. Michael therefore already has this sort of ‘mileage’ before he even begins giving his speech. The audience not only expects the information to be given by a credible person, but they also know that the office is in itself one that demands credibility.
Michael’s speech also embraces pathos, as it tries appealing to the emotions of the audience. For instance, he reminded his audience of the firefighters who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He was trying to whip their emotions in such a way that he could effectively reach out to their inner selves about the issue. The mayor delivered a powerful speech against the opposers of the plan noting that the Muslim community is equally an integral part of the city and the United States of America just like other persons of a different faith. While he delivered a powerful speech, however, the use of pathos, in this case, was quite sensitive, and would easily have worked the other way around, considering the identity of the terrorists.
Besides, it is the contemporary politically right position which calls for the acceptance of all the beliefs and lifestyles. However, another party or an individual might perceive to be irrational or misguided (Bowe, 2013). The sole exception of religious tolerance is its ‘exclusive’ nature. Michael stood to his feet in defense of what he believed in, that is, humanity – in the presence of religious leaders among other leaders from New York City. He affirmed his support for the proposed mosque is noting that such kind of religious tolerance is what has made New York known all over the world. Michael reminded his audience that Catholics, Quakers as well as Jews all previously faced religious segregation within New York (Bowe, 2013).
The speech was delivered at the World Trade Center – a place which Bloomberg noted that “will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts” (Michael, 2010). The symbolism in the location was that it was the first place in the world to begin the call for religious tolerance. He said that the city is “where the seeds of religious tolerance wer...