The Rhetoric of Ghanaian Religious Communication

Abstract This paper examines the rhetoric of Ghana’s religious communication. Meta-analysis of the rhetorical situation of Ghanaian religious communication was conducted to examine how rhetoric has been used in Ghanaian society. Thus, the paper analyzed the effectiveness of religious rhetoric as a tool for religious propagation. It examined various forms of communication such as preaching, singing, dancing and selling of souvenirs in churches from the perspective of rhetoric. The theoretical framework included popular varieties of rhetoric, religious communication, content analysis of the rhetoric of religious situations in Ghana, and a semiotic analysis of souvenirs sold by some Ghanaian pastors. Suppression, avoidance, adjustment, and accommodation were examined as rhetorical tools of religious control. The study also postulated that religion and communication through the media are interwoven due to the rhetorical aspects that bind the two concepts in shaping the authority, dominance and ideologies of religious identities in Ghana.