ChristianFriends11

="A Open Letter to my Christian Friends" Rhetorical Analysis= by: Molly Miller, Amanda Hickman, Kyle Pope, Morgan Crouch

Establishing the Occassion
Upset with the way the church was treating him because of his sexuality. In the letter, he talks about how this made him feel and what he went through after he "came out." The writer has no professional credentials, however the fact that he is homosexual qalifies him to write this particular letter. He wrote this letter to express his feelings on what is going on with homosexuals in the religious community, as well as to share them with the general public. He wrote this letter to his Christian friends becasue they are within the group that encouraged him to leave. He wrote this letter because this happened to him. He kind of got kicked out of his religion/church for coming out as being a homosexual. He switched from Church of Christ to Methodist because they were at least willing to discuss homosexual issues.

Ethos
The author is a homosexual christian who is unhappy with the way that he is treated within his religious community.

Pathos
By pointing out the actual events and conversations that took place cause the reader to feel sorry for him. Most of them were uncalled for. He shows the reader through these events howd he and other homosexual people are being mistreated.

Logos
He is forced out of his church for something that he believes he was born to be. He felt that God made him this way for a reason, and that the church treats it as a behavior rather than an identity.

Claim
That homosexuals are treated unfairly within religious communities.

Evidence

 * Unwilling to discuss homosexuality
 * Rejected unless dying of AIDS
 * Treated as worst/unforgivable sin
 * Homosexuals are to be hated
 * Someone said "I hope you get AIDS and die!"
 * 1/3 of teenage suicides can be linked to sexuality

Differing Views
This letter does not contain differing views. You could say that the whole letter is a response to people with differing views. Also he discusses the views of people in the Church of Christ, whose views on homosexuality differ from his own. MSH