Ronald Reagan Religion And The Evil Empire Essay

Mikayla Rosenthal

Miss Marcuccio & Mr. Humphreys

APLC & APUSH

2 February 2015

Religion and the Evil Empire Every human is born with gifts and talents. Some are born great athletes, while others are born great mathematicians, and even others are born great speakers. Ronald Reagan is one who possesses the talents of a great speaker. He had the ability of comparing two polar opposite topics in a way that causes his audience to believe they were meant to be related. Reagan does not disappoint while speaking on our country's past, present, and future struggles. He compares religion to communism using a common link of sin and evil. Therefore, Ronald Reagan shocked and amused some while inspiring others in his audience as he spoke on the evils

Unfortunately, at this time in history, public schools had already eliminated religion within their walls, but Reagan was an advocate who wanted to bring religion back to school. He said, "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged," meaning that we are not truly free until we can express our religion. Reagan then continued by explaining how our country was founded on faith using examples such as our currency, which states "In God We Trust". Other examples Reagan provides include our Declaration of Independence mentioning a supreme being multiple times and Congress opening each session with prayer. Reagan believed there was a spiritual awakening occurring in the United States. An awakening that would bring religion back into schools and would be advocated by various religious groups. Religion was foundational in Reagan's life, he believed that it should be foundational for our

He spoke with a laid back, but authoritative tone. This was accomplished in various ways. For example, when Reagan began speaking he did not get to his point until a few minutes into his speech. Instead, he began by telling jokes and stories, to ensure his audience was more relaxed. However, Reagan had another purpose for telling stories. He used it as a tool of persuasion to make him seem more down to earth and relatable, knowing that the members of his audience would be more likely to support him if the members could relate to him. Once this was accomplished he spoke in parts addressing three evils of our world, with his main evil, the threat of communism and the Soviet Union, coming last. Reagan also addresses our nation's past struggles of racism and anti-semitism, our present struggles of abortion, infanticide, and communism, and the future struggles we will face if we do not embrace freedom of religion. He states, "The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a rest of moral will and faith." Therefore, Reagan reiterates his belief that we are not free if we cannot express religion. Finally, Reagan, with his speech writer Peggy Noonan, coined the term "Evil Empire" to describe the Soviet Union. This term has stuck around since then when referring to Reagan's view of the Soviets and