INTOLERANCE TO RELIGION 1

Genre Analysis: Intolerance to Religion

Miriam Regina Escobedo
The University of Texas at El Paso
Professor Sidouane Patcha Lum
RWS 1302
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Intolerance to Religion

As society continues to develop the idea of peaceful protest, many people are coming to

the realization that taking a stand for something they believe in is one of the most effective ways

to cause an uproar of change in our world. Although there are three different genres to address

prominent issues in our lives, the most effective genre analysis tactics used to support arguments

towards intolerance to religion is the iconic CoeXisT picture by Piotr Młodożeniec

(iconography) and The Huffington Post’s article, “Preserving American Democracy: Religious

Freedom and Freedom from Religion” (typography).

Audience and Purpose

The audience and purpose of the CoeXisT image and The Huffington Post’s article,

“Preserving American Democracy: Religious Freedom and Freedom from Religion”, is to

address an audience of varying ages who even though may or may not identify with a religion,

still feel that it affects them personally in a positive or negative manner.

An article would catch a lot of controversial attention but not from a very broad audience

including both young and old ages. Articles such as these also only have a temporary effect due

to new articles constantly being published, but if this were a poster/ picture, the targeted

audience would differentiate greatly. Younger generations are greatly impacted by social media

and, therefore, pictures addressing social issues on social media target a wider and more

technologically modern audience because young teenagers or young adults can share the post

with others and voice their opinion regardless of receiving positive or negative feedback. One

image that is best associated with the theme of Iconography is the tolerance to religion CoeXisT

picture. This well-thought out design has a unique layout for each individual letter, representing
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different religions. At first glance all one would notice about the pictures is the words being

written, but as someone takes a closer look, they would find a deeper meaning behind what the

pictures are attempting to convey. Not only are the words chosen relevant to the general image,

but the thought process behind the image is also so intricate in demonstrating the meaning of

“Coexisting” by being tolerant to religion.

Online news articles like these pull in an older audience such as middle-aged adults due

to its formal language and use of higher level contrast with other religious political debates

circulating the news. Furthermore, we can compare how typography can have a somewhat bias

while remaining within the parameters of both arguments. A visual (such as a poster), can only

support one side of the argument and use factual evidence that pertains to the side of the

argument that they have picked. The Huffington Post’s article, “Preserving American

Democracy: Religious Freedom and Freedom from Religion”, is best suited for the Typography

aspect of the “Intolerance to Religion” topic. The article remains objective and as further read

into, the audience targeted seems to transition from those who feel oppressed by religion, to

those who feel oppressed by religious intolerance. This provides both sides of the argument with

fair judgment and eliminates criticism of the author being too biased towards one.

Rhetorical Issues

Although we can look at statistics and graphs, the factual evidence isn’t always what

audiences are attracted to. Being that it provides credibility, being able to see the numbers and

the positive or negative effects it has, can also play into our sense of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.
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Pathos

Seeing as how society today has developed a bias towards the practice of religion, many

typographical articles attempt to appeal to the emotional aspect by proposing in their writing that

instead of teaching future generations not to respect other religions in any environment, we must

rather teach them to respect difference in beliefs and similarity in being human. We can read

articles about tragedies and these articles will be focused on appealing to our emotional senses

but seeing the tragedies through visuals has a much greater effect than just reading about what

happened. In the Huffington post article, the author uses pathos to emotionally address how

religion has affected those who practice it in their own distinct environments by experiencing

racial segregation and a prejudice eye from others. Coexist is defined as living in peace with

each other especially as a matter of policy. Although the CoeXisT image does not depict any sort

of visual tragedy it does choose a word and definition that can have a very impactful, emotional

meaning.

Logos

Furthermore, some rhetorical devices are better used for distinct types of genre analysis.

For example, if the author was to try and approach their audience with a more logistical appeal,

they wouldn’t use iconography but rather typography because images cannot exactly explain or

portray logistics as to where writing can, especially when the author is someone credible, we see

their opinion as introspective and logistical. One of the greatest turning points for religious

freedom can be identified as an act proposed in 1981, The United Nations Declaration on the

Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. This

enactment became fundamental in reaching out to audiences and reiterating the importance of

protecting articles and documents that biasedly supported religious rights in any social
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environment because of the ethical morality it challenged. Just as the enactment of 1981 changed

the way the separation of Church and State would take into effect; The Huffington Post’s article

also discusses a similar solution. The logical solution being to keep respective separation of

church and state to avoid an oppressive governmental influence over the church and an

oppressive influence of the church on the government.

Ethos

It was also concluded in the article, “Preserving American Democracy: Religious

Freedom and Freedom from Religion”, that many students strongly affirmed the idea that the

youth need to be more inclusive of religious enlightenment and to educate all students (whether

religious or not) about religious tolerance to objectively support regular coverage on school

events pertaining to varieties of religious belief. This was not only based on logical terms, but

also ethical terms as well because it is ethically wrong to be preventing religious practice which

is what the CoeXisT image tries to depict by displaying the word COEXIST and having each

letter represent a different religion.

Structure and Delivery

Referring to many of the sources used, while for this genre both typography and

iconography are both effective, iconography seems to have more of an impact because we can

visually see the statistics of religious injustice and hate crime. All the authors argue the same

purpose for religion to be taught in schools, not to influence others or impose on individual

beliefs, but to educate others about respecting diversity. Intolerance to religion is a ginormous

issue in today’s public-school system and in society as a general. Many would argue that we still

obtain religious freedom but seeing as how many religious cases have been taken up to the
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Supreme Court, most religious movements now focus on hindering oppression and would rather

that religion not be taught out of respect to those who don’t categorize themselves under any sort

of belief. Both the Iconography and Typography genre analysis tools for this topic advocate that

we need to practice just the opposite of intolerance. We need to instruct future generations on the

beauty of religion and how it not only is part of culture but a part of so many people’s lifestyle.

People of any age should be taught how to respect and appreciate what makes our world so

phenomenal, our drive to pursue unique lifestyles accustomed to each person and their

personalities.

Conclusion

Depending on the audience being targeted, the impact may be different but regardless of

age, the iconographic image “CoeXisT” was meant to have the same influence on everyone.

Likewise, typography targets not only a different audience, but also provides a distinct

perspective on the issue. Typography can also have the same effect, not necessarily on a younger

audience but it is another way to remain informed about pressing religious issues in society and

to analyze the biases from different news articles. Both may be targeting different audiences but

still advocated and demonstrate the meaning of tolerating religion in an intolerable society to

both young and older audiences.

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References

Davis, D.H. (2002). The Evolution of Religious Freedom as a Universal Human Right:

Examining the Role of the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All

Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Brigham Young

University Law Review, 2002(2), p217-20p.

Islam, F., & Crego, E. (2015, October 14). Preserving American Democracy: Religious Freedom

and Freedom from Religion. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/preserving-american-democ_b_8281706.html

Młodożeniec, P. (2000). CoeXisT [Digital image].

Retrieved from http://culture.pl/en/artist/piotr-mlodozeniec