Religious Language In Obama's Eulogy

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In his June 26, 2015, eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Barack Obama describes his various political policies and advocacies relevant to the killing of Rev. Pinckney. Obama uses religious language and delivers the eulogy in a Southern style. This allows Obama to establish a connection with his audience and transition to a more political discussion in order to advance his perspective on various political policies in light of the racially motivated violence that resulted in the death of Rev. Pinckney. Obama uses religious language in his eulogy for Rev. Pinckney in order to accomplish his purpose. For example, Obama utilizes a quote from the Bible to describe the killing of Pinckney and the other worshippers, stating that “they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance” (paragraph 3). In this eulogy, Obama attempts to highlight that this incident was an act of racial violence and connects this to many …show more content…

Because his direct audience consists of numerous African Methodist Episcopal church members, Obama uses various quotes from the Bible in order to establish a connection with his audience. By assessing the incident in a way that the AME church members are familiar with, Obama fosters a sense of a relation with them; the direct audience begins to become comfortable with his remarks, allowing Obama to transition to his political remarks with the audience’s full attention and agreement with him. Moreover, Obama also references the hymn “Amazing Grace”, initially reciting one of its lines and later singing part of it (paragraph 27, 46). Obama uses this hymn to unify the two main parts of the eulogy: a religious eulogy and a speech discussing relevant political policies. Obama suggests that the church shooting is an indication of God’s grace upon the United States as it permits the end of ignorance and blindness (paragraph 29). Obama then uses this idea

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