Language Use and Silence as Morality: Teaching and Lecturing at an Evangelical Theology College

Abstract

The feminist social critic Camille Paglia (1992) discusses the power of American-style evangelical Christianity in her essay, ‘The joy of Presbyterian sex,’ saying there are ‘Protestant looks, Protestant manners, Protestant values’ central in US society today, and that being a Protestant evangelical Christian is about being in and of a specific ‘tribe’ with a specific, strict code of behaviour, behaviour which includes particular language habits and patterns (p. 29).1 She goes on to suggest that all societies, including the United States, continue to need organized religions precisely because of their ‘austere, enduring legacy’ (p. 37); in fact, she sees it as a mistake for today’s American-style evangelical Christian ‘tribe’ to attempt to be anything other than strict and austere because the demands of belonging and the rules of exclusion and inclusion are precisely why people, women in particular, continue to choose Protestant evangelicalism. That is, Paglia, a radical liberal feminist, believes the very austerity of religion is part of what drives many women to current expressions of evangelical Christianity. Because of the continual and rising popularity of evangelical Christianity in American life, this paper explores one specific setting within it: life at an evangelical theology college.KeywordsFemale StudentMale StudentReligious CommunityAudience MemberLecture HallThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.