“Inoculate Yourself with the Word of God”: Persuasion Inoculation, Medical Inoculation, and Religious Rhetoric

ABSTRACT In the midst of a particularly difficult, deadly flu season, Gloria Copeland – televangelist, co-founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, and member of President Trump’s faith advisory council – seemed to suggest that flu shots were unnecessary to protect against influenza, and instead, one should “inoculate yourself with the word of God.” This paper examines Copeland's inoculation rhetoric through the lens of inoculation theory and finds that Copeland's rhetoric was both consistent and inconsistent. She neither promoted flu shots nor used inoculation as a rhetorical device, but she did claim to be advocating inoculation of a different type.