Title

Wilderness, Freedom, Firearms: Sacred Rhetoric at the 53<sup>rd</sup> Parallel.

Authors

Belanger, Patrick

Abstract

This article analyzes National Rifle Association past–president Charlton Heston's 2000 speech to the British Columbia Wildlife Federation. Narrating a shared mythology, Heston mapped a bridge between the two groups by dovetailing three ideas: wilderness, freedom, and firearms – each of which ostensibly transcends national borders. By exploring how Heston engaged a foreign audience dedicated to wildlife conservation, the paper examines the capacity of sacred rhetoric to generate shared ideological ground and thereby both expand, and demarcate, a community's contours.

Subjects

BRITISH Columbia; HESTON, Charlton, 1923-2008; NATIONAL Rifle Association of America; FIREARMS; WILDLIFE conservation; RHETORIC; LIBERTY; MYTHOLOGY

Publication

Western Journal of Communication, 2021, Vol 85, Issue 3, p360

ISSN

1057-0314

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1080/10570314.2020.1802655