Religion, Science, and Reasonable Doubts: Persuading into (Un)faith

Based on an argumentative and stylistic methodological framework, this article aims to analyse the persuasive strategies employed in religious discourse, especially in new media. On the one hand, it concentrates on the opposing strategies of counter-discourses – such as science – and on the other, it aims to prove how even nondemonstrative, controversial topics can be moulded into believable presentations through the argumentative structures of persuasive public speech. As an example, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a corporation spreading ideas through ‘Talks’ held by experts in many fields of knowledge. Three samples from TED Talks are thus analysed: On technology and faith, held by an evangelical preacher; Militant atheism, run by an evolutionary scientist; and The doubt essential to faith, given by a journalist. The selected speeches are analysed according to the principles of stylistics (Simpson 1993, 2004) and Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca’s model for understanding rhetoric (1973), focusing on three particular linguistic features: premises, audience, and figures of speech. Such reiterated patterns emphasise the style and strategies used by speakers who – conforming to precise pragmatic purposes – are able to prompt the audience’s emotions and solicit a performative effect.