Erika Streett-Lawrence

In Joan Trulys response to an author of articles written on religious views, her

goal was to persuade her audience in believing that religious values occupy the
central place in ones being. She begins by pointing out that young people are
foregoing belief in religion due to its values being deemed too restrictive and that
if more people spoke up about religion, they would not be easily deceived and
misled. First and foremost, young people are the only ones pointed out in this
response and this situation could occur with anyone-young or old. Anyone can
be impressionable and mislead, regardless of age.
As a Christian, I agree with some of Mrs. Trulys points regarding the Bible
and its teachings such as the belief that the Bible is Gods Word and that God
doesnt fit into the finite mind. What I do not particularly agree with is her belief
that all human learning is sparse and fragmentary and that human knowledge
and understanding changes too quickly. Because she is basing her argument on
only one specific religion, one can surmise that her response is completely
biased as there are many religions, values and beliefs that could to be
considered. She also offered no facts about her beliefs, only her own
interpretations of the subject. Joan uses emotionally charged language as a
substitute for evidence by using words such as values, judgment and God to
stress her points which is definitely intended to invoke an emotional response.
Overall, Joan Trulys response could have had more of an impact had she

included case study findings or actual statistics however, just stating generalities
without including any factual data proved to be ambiguous and assuming.