No one has really talked much about how church has persuaded us... Have you ever stopped and looked at all the different denominations that we have in Christianity? Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Non-Denominational, and Protestant (those are all of the ones I can think of). What makes people choose a denomination over the other one? Does it have to do with your specific beliefs? I have heard statistics show that all of these different denominations have over 80% in common with each other. If it is not about specific beliefs, does persuasion have something to do with it? Have you ever walked into a church before and after the first service realize that this place feels like "home". Are churches really trying to persuade you to join their congregation or are they doing it for a higher reason.

So lets assume that you find a church that you like based on your own beliefs. Lets say for example--a Lutheran Church. What makes you like a Lutheran Church over another one? I think one of a churches goals is to make a person feel at "home" and feel connected to the people and the atmosphere.

Using rhetoric on my coach

This morning we had morning practice at 6am, which of course no want ever wants to attend since it's so early in the morning. We have 18 girls on the team and only 8 girls ended up showing up. We sat around the pool deck waiting and getting ready to hop in the water to do a swim set. As our coach sat there on deck with us telling us what our swim set was going to be, I heard him mumble that he was 'hungry'. I really did not want to be at practice, and I know no one else wanted to be there either. I knew my coach's favorite restaurant was Franks so I simply suggested we should all do a team bonding and go out for breakfast instead of doing a swim set. I could tell my coach was actually thinking about it.

So...he decided to take us out and everyone was thankful since he decided to pay for all of us too. my persuasion worked on him because I convinced him how much he himself wanted breakfast and especially breakfast from Franks. It worked out in all of our favor!

Gossip...the best rhetoric?

Gossip: we all do it and we all hear it. It's natural and engaging. Why is it though that we are so engaged when someone is gossiping? What makes it so interesting that it grabs our complete attention? Why can a little gossip grab our full attention but yet our professors in class can't even grab some attention?

Gossip is nothing but talking about rumors or private affairs of others. What makes us wanting to hear more? When someone tells you "I have to tell you a secret later" your first response is "no, I want to know now". It just pulls you in to hear more about what the person is saying.

The interesting thing is this: most of the time, gossip is never exactly right and the information is tweaked. Yet, we absorb it and take it as what they say and not even think about reading into the credibility of the person half the time. Anyone can start talking about someone else and you are able to believe them, even though you have no idea who this person is. Why is that? Why do we not test their ethos more? Sometimes we ask them who they heard it from, trying to test the ethos of that person. Add in your comments here...

incest?!

I read an article today dealing with a daughter and a father having a sexual relationship together. The father is 61 years of age while the daughter is in her late 30s and is married with 2 children already. Recently, the daughter and the father had a child together who is 9 months old. After they recently went public about their relationship, the court has banned them from having sex anymore (which i think is funny that the gov't can do that).

Right off the bat, you think to yourself these people are horrible people. You already place a stereotype on them saying no matter what there story is, these people are disgusting. When reading this article, I found the writer to say things to his audience that will spark some kind of emotion inside of them. The reporter focuses mainly on the "incest" part instead of the mental effects the child will have when it grows up. the reporter continues to talk, using forensic rhetoric, about what incest consists of and how this family is messed up. I read another article on this issue about how they are going to appear on 60 minutes tomorrow night. That article focused on what the mental effects the child will experience when it grows up and how family of the daughter (reminder: she has a husband and 2 children already), are handling this event. After comparing, you can realize the first article is trying to really get your emotions involved and are trying to get you angry inside. They had the same audience, but approached it differently to grab your attention.

Airport Security

We all know how tight security at airports have gotten in the past 5 years. They always say before you enter security that you can only have 3 oz. of fluid or gels and they have to be in a clear zip lock baggy. They have signs everywhere that says you cannot have lighters or firearms or other weapons like this. Now they have been advertising this for a long time now and usually they seem pretty tight when it comes to these rules.

They have convinced us that you will not get past security if you are breaking any of these rules. The fact that you have to go through that much time to get through security means that they must be doing a pretty good job at inspecting everything and everyone. They have convinced me that they are smart and are protecting us.

I had the priviledge of traveling to New York for a water polo tourney. We flew out Saturday morning and had 10 girls traveling. Well, after we had passed through security at the airport, we then realized what we got through with. One girl had a lighter. Another girl had accupuncture needles. While another girl had a huge tube of toothpaste. Someone else had a razor. How do we get through the airport with so much stuff that is not allowed on te planes? For the longest time airport security had convinced me of how strong they are and how hard it is to get past with illegal things to bring on planes. They had persuaded me of being strong until this trip. They let 5 of us go through that were carrying things that should have been taken away. So does that ruin their credibility? Are they really as good as they say they are?