Cultural Analysis of "Forgive Them, Father"

In this post I will be analyzing culturally significant keywords in the article "Forgive Them, Father" written by Jeff Turrentine from OnEarth.  This is not from one of my original three articles, but it discusses the same topic of the public reaction and the importance of the Pope and his statements on climate change.

Public Domain Images "clouds" acquired via Pixabay
Uploaded 2012 CC0 Public Domain

Keywords:
I found the words climate and encyclical to be the most common keywords present in this article.

Basic Thesis:
The Pope's encyclical forces the conversation on climate change to hold moral and ethical value in the eyes of the religious and non-religious.  This sudden change is causing entire populations to question their beliefs in the political and religious world and examine their core moral standards.  The author hopes that this internal conversation will break down the "charade of Us vs. Them" - republicans vs. democrats, conservatives vs. liberals, etc. - in order to shift an entire cultural opinion on the importance of addressing human impact on the planet (Turrentine p. 10).

Affect of Keywords on the Argument:
Climate accompanied a large variety of other words, such as change, denial, science, and activism, so it's versatility and cultural significance make it crucial to understanding the article.  It also directly takes on the issue of human effect on climate.  While researching for this article, I found many authors hid behind terms like global warming and science, in order to avoid immediate dismissal of the article by climate change deniers.  Instead they would write out the quotes from other individuals and not address the issue of climate change themselves.  Instead of pushing the heavy topic away, Turrentine confronts the problem and exactly explains why the Pope's position will cause moral confusion in the Catholic community.  Encyclical is the catalyst for this sudden chaotic change in the conversation, so uncovering the religious meaning and power behind such a document can lead clues to why it is causing such strife worldwide.  It also presents the audience with a physical document to turn to if they would like to read the Pope's exact words.  Turrentine constantly uses this to prove to the reader that the encyclical is the context of the article and is an important religious item to be considered in the conversation.