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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Priesthood: An Analysis of Official Church Statements Concerning Black Priesthood Denial

Description: This study sought to determine whether the change in the LDS Church practice of black Priesthood denial on June 8, 1978, was voluntary or was a result of external and internal pressures against the Church. Four official statements given by the First Presidency of the Church were examined using Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's seven elements of rhetorical action. It was determined that external and internal pressures from the NAACP, civil rights activists, and dissonant LDS believers, against the Church'… more
Date: December 1991
Creator: Bolen, Ingrid B. (Ingrid Britt)
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Diplomacy Rhetoric and the Human Rights Appeals of Jeane J. Kirkpatrick and Vernon A. Walters

Description: This thesis investigates the extent to which Ambassador Kirkpatrick's and Ambassador Walters' United Nations discourses on human rights reflects the rhetorical themes of "prophetic dualism" and "technocratic realism." A metaphoric analysis of six speeches reveals that both Kirkpatrick's and Walters' arguments were framed through an ideological division between Democracy and Communism. The presence of "prophetic dualism" in Kirkpatrick's and Walters' discourses is explained as an extension of Pr… more
Date: May 1991
Creator: Rogina, Sergio A. (Sergio Armando)
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Heresy vs. Orthodoxy: The Preus/Tietjen Controversy

Description: Using the framework set up by rhetorical critic Thomas M. Lessl in his article "Heresy, Orthodoxy, And The Politics Of Science", this study examines the ways in which heretical discourse defines community boundaries and shapes perceptions of right belief. Specifically, this study analyzes the historic conflict in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod which produced the doctrinal statement "A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles". Comparison is made between this event and other "here… more
Date: August 1991
Creator: Barnhart, Melody R. (Melody Ruth)
open access

Toward a Critique of the Message Construct in Communication

Description: The idea of an inherent structure of meaning in human communication is identified as the message construct. Traces of the construct in textbook models of the basic communication process and in popular magazine images of communication are examined. The argument is raised that objectifying the message has resulted in a paradigm which focuses disproportionately on explicit, representational, and instrumental aspects of communication. An alternative conception is proposed which would take into acco… more
Date: August 1991
Creator: Wilson, John K. (John Kenneth)
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