Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical analysis

            One of the fundamental human rights is the right to profess your own religion. The USA, comprising the wide range of both national and religious diversity, is the ultimate democratic country, the one that accepts all the people regardless of their nationality, religion, or who they believe in. It is a Promised Land, “A Land of Plenty”, where everyone is accepted for whom they are, or at least it is thought so…

However, neither Huntington’s text, nor Markstein’s cartoon deal with the issue of diversity of religion in the USA, on contrary, it deals with the atheism and atheists and their place in the American society.

Both the text and the cartoon are concerned with the arising problem of the Pledge of Allegiance’s text, which caused a number of controversies in the States. The Huntington’s text specifies the issue by stating that although American society practiced the politics of equality and freedom of every kind, for all the citizens, the atheists and unbelievers, opposed to the religious ones, have no right to impose atheism. They are on the margins of the society, “Atheists are outsiders in America, as he says”.

 Further on, Huntington looks back on Michael Newdow’s lawsuit against his daughter’s school district, pointing out that although it was argued as “a message to unbelievers that they are not full members of political community” in the Court of Appeals, it was nonetheless dismissed at the Supreme Court.

Additionally to that, Huntington points out that due to the fact that the Pledge of Allegiance is closely related to identity of the nation, the religion is an important aspect of lives of the Americans. Therefore, although having the right not to recite the pledge, at least not “under God” part, atheists do not have the right to impose atheism to those who defined America as a religious country.

On the other hand, the accent of Gary Markstein’s cartoon is not on the position of the atheists in the American society, but on the younger generations whose believes do not have such a strong foundation.

The cartoon represents a typical classroom in the America, the students, who being visibly unenthusiastic, are reciting the pledge in front of their teacher. Instead of saying “…one nation under God…”, they said “…one nation under nothing in particular…”, to the teacher’s astonishment. The students, who are approximately 6, clearly represent new generation of Americans who is not concerned with the religion, and it is not of a great significance to them. The flag looks almost like a cloth, indicating a lack of patriotism. However, the portrait of a teacher being repelled, almost disguised by what was said, shows us the attitude of a cartoonist towards this issue.

The cartoon can be interpreted as Markstein’s way of expressing his attitude towards the religion, and its omnipresence in American culture and society. Being an atheist, Markstein may be suggesting that times when religion was imposed to every citizen, times when religion was in every pore of the society, came to an end, with the new generation of Americans who will change the current situation.

Finally, to conclude, I would like to add that regardless of who we are: atheists, believers or non-believers, we should all have the right to express or opinions or attitudes towards the religion. The religion itself should not be imposed to those who do not believe in God, nor should they be condemned by others, just as the atheists should not criticize believers, not just in American society, but elsewhere.