President Donald J. Trump delivers a message on Holy Week

In his death, he modeled true love. And in his resurrection from the tomb, he proved that even death itself will not silence those who place their trust in Almighty God. As it says in gospel of John, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son for whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Flag-Waving Patriotic, religious, or in-group identity invoked to validate a position.

Slogans Catchy phrase used to compress a complex position into an emotionally loaded shorthand.

This Easter, we also celebrate the extraordinary resurrection of faith and religion in America. Because I have often said, to be a great nation, you must have religion and you must have God. In churches across the nation on Sunday, the pews will be fuller, younger, and more faithful than they have at any time in many, many years.

Glittering Generalities Uses vague, emotionally positive framing around 'faith and religion' and 'extraordinary resurrection' to evoke noble sentiment without substantive content — for example: 'extraordinary resurrection of faith'

Transfer Borrows the authority and legitimacy of religion and God to validate a political claim about national greatness, implying that religious adherence is a prerequisite for a great nation — for example: 'to be a great nation, you must have religion and you must have God'

Black-and-White Fallacy Presents a binary condition — either a nation has religion and God, or it cannot be great — ignoring the many other factors that contribute to national success — for example: 'you must have religion and you must have God'

Exaggeration/Hyperbole Makes an extreme, unverified superlative claim about church attendance being the highest in 'many, many years' without evidence, overstating the scale of a religious trend — for example: 'more faithful than they have at any time in many, many years'

Bandwagon Appeal Implies that masses of people are returning to church, creating a sense that religious participation is surging and broadly shared, pressuring conformity through implied crowd size — for example: 'the pews will be fuller, younger, and more faithful'

Religion is growing again in our country for the first time in decades. Happy Easter to all. May God bless you.

Glittering Generalities The claim that religion is 'growing again' is vague and emotionally positive, invoking a sense of national renewal without specific evidence or definition — for example: 'Religion is growing again in our country'

Transfer Invoking God's blessing borrows divine authority and legitimacy to create a positive association with the speaker or message — for example: 'May God bless you'

May God bless the United States of America. Our country is doing so well like never before. Thank you.

Transfer Invokes divine authority to lend legitimacy and emotional resonance to a political statement — for example: 'May God bless the United States of America'

Exaggeration/Hyperbole Claims the country is performing better than at any point in its entire history, an absolute superlative unsupported by evidence — for example: 'doing so well like never before'