Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Political Science, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-51).

Thesis advisor: Mark Massa / Thesis advisor: Dominic Doyle / Civil religion is a necessary unifying force in a religiously plural society such as the United States, but it can also usurp the place of Christianity in the believer’s life. This is always a danger for Christianity which can only be the “good news” if it is inculturated by drawing upon a society’s own symbols. But it must also transcend the culture if it is to speak a prophetic word to it. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

This project explores the importance of historically specific theological discourses in United States presidential rhetoric. To do this I call in question the common assumption that God-language is simply used by presidents out of strategic advantage, or personal belief, rather than as a defining, and necessary, feature of American identity. Contrary to this approach, I describe how theologies have historically been a necessary part of presidential rhetoric as presidents use theologies to endow national action with divine significance. I do this in cases of presidential rhetoric from Woodrow Wilson, John Kennedy, and Barack Obama that define the foreign policy mission of America with specific liberal Christian theological discourses. As presidents take up theological discourses to construct American morality the church/state distinction is threatened as one theological discourse is at risk of becoming the official state theology. Preventing this from happening, however, is the relative theological diversity of the American denominational system. Those who hold other theological orientations react negatively when their theology is not used to define national morality. In the cases I describe, presidents may use God-language strategically to garner support for their political actions, but when they do so the American public tends to read that God-language as having a theological dimension. Secular commentators that look for how presidents strategically use God-language to appeal to voters do not recognize that words-about-God are involved in theological networks of meaning-making that compete to define national morality. And where secular commentators fail to see this theological dimension, the religious American public does. This project attempts to bring the religious public's sensitivity to God-language into the academic study of presidential rhetoric by reading political discourse for its theological dimension.

White House ceremonies honoring sports champions -"presidential sports encomia" - have become common events in presidential communication since the Carter Administration. In the last quarter-century, more than one hundred presidential sports encomia have taken place, with US presidents honoring both professional and intercollegiate athletes. Presidential sports encomia not only afford Chief Executives an opportunity to stand alongside champions, creating a "winner-by-association" effect, but also allow them to articulate the importance of sports in American society. Whether addressing civic responsibility, patriotism, or race relations, presidential sports encomia ultimately connect athletic achievement to American ideals. In this way, the symbolic power of sports is employed in the development and maintenance of American civil religion. Analysis of these ceremonies reveals how US presidents use the rhetorical resources of sports encomia for both their own political agendas and the larger institution of the presidency.

Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf [89]).

No description available.

American civil religion is a topic in which there is a lot of interest but very little current scholarly activity. This is primarily due to there currently being no common understanding of American civil religion, hindering progress in the field. The first purpose of the dissertation is to rectify this situation by creating a solid theoretical understanding of American civil religion from which scholarship can progress. The second purpose of the dissertation is to examine the development of the American civil religion through history. This includes an interesting dynamic given the civil religion's purpose of promoting a shared identity. The process of promoting a shared identity involves defining the social group in question. When 'outsiders' enter the community, conflict ensues. Typically, the conflict continues until the parameters of the civil religion is enlarged, incorporating the new group. This is a continuing cycle within the American civil religion. Looking at this broad framework, one will able to see both the continuity and change from the founding period to the current version of the American civil religion. / text

Both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Plato offer doctrines of the great legislator, that highly virtuous figure who designs foundational laws for a political community, in order to shed light on the problem of legislation. This problem is that positive law is incapable of achieving the ends in political life that are expected of it, even though it is understood to be the chief tool at the disposal of the lawgiver. Close consideration of Rousseau’s and Plato’s political texts reveals that both philosophers are in agreement about the limited function of positive law, insofar as its exclusive purpose is to forestall the ills of human life. But they also agree that the effectiveness of legislation requires something more: the condition of effective laws is a comprehensive system of civic education, directed primarily at the passions, through which individual human beings are turned into good citizens. Taking into account the extreme difficulty of establishing such educational institutions, both Rousseau and Plato put forward doctrines of the legislator to indicate what sort of figure could possibly accomplish this task with success. The study finds that the two philosophers’ conceptions of the legislator are by and large similar, and finally, that they both express pessimism on the capacity of laws to promote the good life.

Both Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Plato offer doctrines of the great legislator, that highly virtuous figure who designs foundational laws for a political community, in order to shed light on the problem of legislation. This problem is that positive law is incapable of achieving the ends in political life that are expected of it, even though it is understood to be the chief tool at the disposal of the lawgiver. Close consideration of Rousseau’s and Plato’s political texts reveals that both philosophers are in agreement about the limited function of positive law, insofar as its exclusive purpose is to forestall the ills of human life. But they also agree that the effectiveness of legislation requires something more: the condition of effective laws is a comprehensive system of civic education, directed primarily at the passions, through which individual human beings are turned into good citizens. Taking into account the extreme difficulty of establishing such educational institutions, both Rousseau and Plato put forward doctrines of the legislator to indicate what sort of figure could possibly accomplish this task with success. The study finds that the two philosophers’ conceptions of the legislator are by and large similar, and finally, that they both express pessimism on the capacity of laws to promote the good life.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-101). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.