Faith in America

Purpose
          In his speech, Faith in America, Mitt Romney is trying to persuade the public that his religion will not interfere with his presidency if he becomes president.
Ethos
          Mitt Romney is very effective in his ethos because he is a religious man and he points that out very clearly. Even though he is a Mormon, he defines very well that he will not let his own faith or the faith from other religions dictate his actions should he win presidency. His appeal in this category is with his testimony and his experiences that have brought him up to welcome those of any and every faith. He did not apologize for being a Mormon and said that if his faith sinks his candidacy then so be it. He talked about the founders not wanting the president to be a spokesman for their faith.
Pathos
          Mitt Romney said he needed the prayers of every faith, so he is relating to those of every faith. Another way Romney relates is by describing what he loves about every religion. Throughout his speech he uses language familiar to those who belong to various religious faiths, by doing this he becomes even more relatable and also becomes trusted.
Logos
          Romney starts out by explaining one basic belief of the LDS (Mormon) church about what he believes about Christ, bringing his background to support his position. He then goes on to say that he won't speak any more about his faith because he would be taking the very religion test that the founding fathers did not want to happen. Using the goals of the founding fathers as part of his speech he is using logos very effectively because it shows where his goals are as well. Romney makes himself very accountable for his words because he states that he will not denounce or distance himself from his beliefs. One defining part of his speech was when he spoke about freedom and religion and about their necessity of being together. He also spoke about how this was a nation under God, which further solidifies his point that freedom needs religion and religion needs freedom to work out the best way possible.
Extra thoughts
          I feel Mitt Romney’s speech connected very well to those belonging to a religious faith. He related himself to them through familiar language and also through similar beliefs. Making himself seem more human to them and also making himself known as a religious man is very convincing to those of similar beliefs. However, I feel that he had a very large disconnect with the atheist audience. The religious terminology and the fact that his speech mainly reach out to those who belonged to faiths would create the feeling of being excluded for them. Even though his speech was very powerful for his intended audience, it was not a convincing argument to those who do not belong to any particular faith or who are atheist.