What is Rhetoric?

What is Rhetoric?

According to Webster Rhetoric is: : the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion

My personal definition:
Rhetoric is when a group of people take a set of facts and twist them to fit their agenda. They either take the portion of the facts that suit their purposes and leave out any information that might hurt their cause or they twist the facts and mix them with lies to produce half truths. To persuade you of their point of view.

So why would I choose to write a blog about rhetoric? Well, because I'm sick of it, I'm sick of politicians using it, I'm sick of special interest using it, and I'm especially sick of preachers using it.

I hate it when I see people trying to defend a belief with faulty information, the other side of the argument knows when our information is faulty or rigged, and it just leaves us open to ridicule and gives us a bad reputation.

But the thing that hurts me the most is when I'm reading my Bible and I come across a passage that I've heard all of my life used to support a certain standard/doctrine and I realize that the people that I love and trusted have twisted it to fit the view their particular view point. It easy to spot the rhetoric in other's beliefs, and it's disappointing when you see rhetoric used in an organization that you support, but it is absolutely heart retching when you discover that someone you love has lied to you about why we do things a certain way, that their belief though not wrong, per say, was not grounded in scripture as you were always taught.

I guess that is why the Bible commends the people of Berea for searching the Scriptures to verify that the things Paul taught were the truth, it is always important to verify what you are hearing is true, if something doesn't ring true then check it out for yourself. We need to be on our guard against passing on rhetoric and just swallowing something because it sounds good or is what you want to hear. Check the source, compare scripture with scripture. Know the Truth for the truth will set you free.