Atheism Community Weighs In (3)

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What is rhetoric?

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the capability of writers or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations.  As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the European tradition. Its best known definition comes from Aristotle, who considers it a counterpart of both logic and politics, and calls it "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion."

Reference: Rhetoric.

: language that is intended to influence people and that may not be honest or reasonable

: the art or skill of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people

Reference: rhetoric.

The above image is powerful rhetoric, and it accounts for both the learned (academic) and the layperson (common) meanings of the word. The above image is also dangerous rhetoric, in that it grossly simplifies a crowning but complex achievement of humankind as well as a tragic but no less complex event in human history. 

Even if we are to acknowledge science as pivotal, even tectonic in reaching the moon, science is merely the enabler in this case.  Instead, it is more about human ingenuity, inspiration and persistence.  Similarly, even if we are to acknowledge religion as the calling card for the September 11th attacks, some fanatic people bent on destruction were actually the drivers of that tragedy.