Mitt Romney's Paralipsis: (Un)Veiling Jesus in “Faith in America”

Abstract

Mitt Romney's Mormon faith has been a topic of suspicion and debate among Christian conservatives. Romney addressed the issue in a 2007 address titled “Faith in America.” This article argues that Romney's use of paralipsis helps to explain the divergent popular and academic responses to the speech. Paralipsis may be used as more than a mere stylistic device; it may also be employed as a comprehensive rhetorical strategy in an increasingly polarized political culture.

Notes

¹I express gratitude for the supportive and diligent RR reviewers, Andrew King and David Timmerman, whose advice enriched the essay substantially. I also thank Theresa Enos, editor of Rhetoric Review, for her efficient management of the review process.

²Transcendence is a tactic identified by Ware and Linkugel as one of four common strategies of apologia. For reference, see “Apologia” in Jasinski's Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Theory (21).

³Article IV. “No religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

⁴For a full study of such methods, see Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic (Chapters 1 and 2).

⁵See “Oath” in the Oxford English Dictionary and the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Also see Margaret Sonmez's 2001 article, “Oaths, Exclamations and Selected Discourse Markers in Three Genres.”

⁶For study on this subject, see Alexander's Mormonism in Transition, Gordon's The Mormon Question, and Aarington and Bitton's The Mormon Experience. Harold Bloom's chapters on Mormonism in The American Religion are also insightful.

⁷The paragraph numbers correspond to the text of the speech as published on Americanrhetoric.com. This version of the manuscript can be found at Americanrhetoric.com under “Mitt Romney.”

⁸A text of the Oath of Allegiance can be found easily on the web (see, for example, Somerville). The similarities to which I refer here include the explicit swearing off of political allegiance from the Pope or any “authorities of the Church of the See of Rome” and the offering of it to “his Majesty” the king of England. Just like Romney, Catholics are a priori asked to shed the influence of their church and to offer explicit devotion to the nation. Also like Romney, they are asked to do this because their political leaders fear that the influence of a particular church will somehow weaken the nation and strengthen that church.