Preaching to the choir

Cogito ergo sum Logic and rhetoric

Key articles

Logical fallacy Syllogism Argument

General logic

Principle of explosion Paraconsistent logic Wrong direction Wronger than wrong Modus ponens Rogerian argument

Bad logic

Argument from morality Appeal to celebrity Argumentum ad martyrdom Willful ignorance Canard (português) Appeal to common sense v - t - e

"Preaching to the choir" or "preaching to the converted" is a figure of speech that refers to a situation when someone is making an argument to an individual or group of people who already agree with that argument. The opposite is evangelism, missionary work, or proselytization, which refer to winning new converts.

Such a rhetorical strategy is meant to minimize dissent or further solidify a view. The range of responses to this, from fervent nodding ("So true, so true!") to disgruntled remarks ("Thank you for wasting my time, Captain Obvious!"), may all be expressed by commenting that that's preaching to the choir. The term implies that individuals who would be willing to sing in a church choir would be favorably inclined to whatever point of view the preacher was espousing.

As well as in churches, the practice is common in political meetings — for example, at a party conference or political rally, where everybody who attends is likely to already be a supporter of the party or politician. In a political context, the phrase "energizing the base" is often used, which has a slightly more positive connotation: rather than denoting futility, it suggests attempts to encourage the faithful to go out and do stuff.

The phrase "preaching to the choir" apparently dates from the 1970s; "preaching to the converted" is much older, from the late 19^th century. The concept is older still, however. Christians argue endlessly whether and to what extent they should preach to the converted or to the unconverted; the Parable of the Sower suggests that God's word won't is at best unlikely to have any effect on unbelievers (and might get you shredded for your trouble), but if it falls on the believer's ground (or ears), it will flourish (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15).

See also

• Apologetics tend to do a lot of this
• Cognitive dissonance — a problem for any argument's acceptance that this neatly avoids
• Backfire effect — what you risk by preaching outside the choir
• Fox News
• Groupthink
• MSNBC
• Religious leaders

References

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