Overview

Democracy faces threats from an emerging right-wing movement in democratic governments around the world. This may be even more prevalent in the United States because there is an evil that uses rhetorical tropes to undermine the anchor institutions of democracy: press, courts, universities, and Congress. This evil has a personification--former President Donald Trump. All the rhetorical critiques of Trump, that he is a demagogue, an authoritarian, a serial liar, a populist on steroids, fail to take into account the evil that is fomented by his angry and vengeful rhetoric. Pictures of evil in Scripture, philosophy, and rhetoric bear a striking resemblance to Trump. It is not enough to say that he is dangerous to democracy. Kennedy claims that he is the evil seed in democracy that is even now sprouting new versions of the Trump rhetoric as each acolyte attempts to outrage the next. Good and Evil in the Garden of Democracy screams at the evil, fights against the evil, and then attempts to sing the songs of goodness and democracy from poets, prophets, and rhapsodes. For the health of democracy these words have been written.

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9781666712988

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"""A worthy sequel to Kennedy's The Immaculate Mistake--here now is an in-depth examination of Trump's malevolent rhetoric that is so damaging to America's psyche. Kennedy identifies in starkest terms the malignancy of Trump-speak that desires to confuse good and evil while promising an escape from truth. Nevertheless, Kennedy offers confidence that America can return to a healthy state of rhetorical good by seeking Wisdom as personified in the Psalms and Proverbs. A must-read for America!"" --Gerald B. Cleaver, moderator of ""Concerns of a Pre-Trump Republican"" ""I can't remember the last time I read a book on rhetoric that I couldn't put down. In fact, I've never read a book on rhetoric that I couldn't put down--until this one by Rodney Kennedy. He combines the erudition of a scholar who knows the power of words with the passion of an old-time prophetic preacher who calls us to discern what's going on and work for the change needed in our society."" --Kyle Childress, pastor, Austin Heights Baptist Church ""Rod Kennedy's expertise in a broad range of theology and rhetorical criticism, combined with a razor-sharp wit, unlocks a new clarity in understanding the Trump era that is both sophisticated and approachable. This book demonstrates how terms like 'good' and 'evil' can still have power at a time when words are often thought to have lost their meaning. And in the wake of January 6, our democracy might just depend on such an urgent moral imagination."" --Jeremy Fuzy, Voices editor, Word&Way"

Author Information

Rodney Kennedy is interim pastor of Emmanuel Fiedens Federated Church, Schenectady, New York. He is homiletics instructor at Palmer Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Immaculate Mistake (2021).

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