I am studying the themes of peace in religious leaders’ rhetoric because I want to understand how the goals and beliefs of peace are manifested in the everyday practices of religious through the rhetoric of religious leaders in order to find out how the manifestation of peace in religion practices have changed overtime (from 1950-present). The object that I am proposing to study with this question is the rhetoric of themes of peace and the actors that construct these representations are religious leaders who are historically, men. Because the majority of actors contributing to the conversation about religious intervention and dialogue about peace are men, there are many groups of people missing from the conversation like women for example.
One primary source that can be used to examine the rhetoric of Catholic leaders is through popes’ homilies.[1] Homilies, speeches, letter, and messages from previous to the current pope are available on the Vatican website, which would allow me to look at the rhetoric used by popes when discussing topics such as peace and conflict.[2]
Another primary source is the Shalom Center, which shows the perspective of Jewish writings and rhetoric surrounding the theme of peace.[3] These letters and documents specifically addressing issues like peace reveal variation in the dialogue between the rhetoric of the Jewish community and the Catholic community.[4]
Both of these sources provide examples of the type of sources that can be used to research this particular question of peace rhetoric, which plays into the dialogue in the international community about religion in peace. I am also planning on examining other sources such as political statements from governments in order to collect a wide variety of perspectives about religious dialogue.
[1] “Homilies | Francis.” n.d. Accessed November 10, 2019. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies.index.html.
[2] Ibid.
[3] “War, Peace, & the Jewish Community | The Shalom Center.” n.d. Accessed November 10, 2019. https://theshalomcenter.org/treasury/32.
[4] Ibid.
Bibliography
“Homilies | Francis.” n.d. Accessed November 10, 2019. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies.index.html.
“War, Peace, & the Jewish Community | The Shalom Center.” n.d. Accessed November 10, 2019. https://theshalomcenter.org/treasury/32.