Salem Rhetorical Analysis

My fellow neighbors of Salem,

I speak to you today after attending a speech made by Franklin Roosevelt, who has enlightened me on a many great factors missing from our town. He has stated that a society cannot properly function without the establishment of several freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom from fear. Considering the recent events that have transpired here, I believe I surprise no one when I say that we as a community require substantial improvement in implementing these freedoms. We must be able to speak our minds, choose our own methods of prayer, and escape from the fear that confines us in our daily lives. Salem is not a free town as of now. No one here may speak their mind without fear of ridicule and persecution. Should a person attempt to defend himself, they are immediately thought to be lying due to basic speculation from another. How may a person call himself free
As quoted from Roosevelt, there is “...freedom of every person to worship God in his own way.” I was criticized heavily for inconsistently attending church and not baptizing my youngest child. However, it is my husband’s and my own decision as to how we choose to worship. We have our own personal preference of how we wish to show our religious observance. As a community, we should be “working together in a friendly, civilized society”, not ridiculing each other over decisions that are personal to each and every individual. There should be no pressure for a person to dedicate himself to a practice that he does not wish to participate in. However, here in Salem, my husband and I were said to be unfaithful and shameful, when we simply disagreed with the preaching that was occurring at that time, surely no reason for us to be interrogated and outcasts. Our town lacks desperately needed tolerance and acceptance, or we will never find peace with one