Analyzing Message in "Forgive Them, Father"

In this blog I will be discussing the message and purpose of the text I chose, "Forgive Them, Father" written by Jeff Turrentine from OnEarth.

violim_cipele0 "Nature" accessed via Pixabay
Uploaded October 2015 CC0 Public Domain

Most Relevant Bullet Points

Turrentine wrote the piece to interpret the importance of the Pope's involvement in Environmental activism, to reflect on what will occur in the religious community and general public, and to subtly advocate for the need for change in the American culture.  These three bullets, interpret, reflect, and advocate were described in the bullet points in A Student's Guide to First Year Writing.

Most Irrelevant Bullet Points

Turrentine did not respond to an event, as he was writing before the encyclical was released and the Pope's tour occurred.  He also did not truly want to persuade the audience of anything.  He wanted to reflect on the possible changes in today's culture and what would have to happen in order for any long term changes to occur.  The articles written after the Pope's tour are generally more focused on these two bullets, as they want to respond to the speech and/or convince the public to side with one side or the other.

Are there any nuances/layers to the message the author is trying to get across?

Due to Turrentine writing for an environmentalist news group, he has an inherent bias, because of this he makes a sincere effort to keep the persuasive elements to a minimal.  Instead of spending his time telling the audience the right way to think about the issue, he presents the audience with the moral and ethical qualms that are created by such a religious figure becoming involved.  He spends the most time on what the value of future events hold for America as a culture and the current political divides that could potentially be broken.