Abstract

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of two conflicting descriptions of the women who reside in a small New Mexico religious community called Strong City. The first half of the thesis treats a documentary film that was made about this group, called 'The End of the World Cult,' which presents the Strong City community as an abusive 'Cult,' and the women of that community as the brainwashed victims of a manipulative 'Cult' leader. The second half of this thesis presents a very different picture of these women by analyzing the group's own rhetoric that appeared on their website, Strongcity.info. According to their self-presentation, the women of Strong City do not see themselves as manipulated victims but as responsible agents. The purpose of this analysis is to complicate our understanding of these women and their religious context. My larger aim is to use the example of Strong City to talk about the reality of religious difference. This thesis investigates the possibility of talking about difference in a way that respects disagreements about values without abandoning our own critical, ethical perspective