Ethnographic interviews (n = 62) in the congregations of Huntsville, Texas provide a basis to interpret religious statements in a small American community. These statements were found to contain coding devices which function primarily to distinguish denominational groups from one another rather than functioning to represent what a group 'believes.' Analysis of the interview tape recordings revealed 28 rhetorical coding devices which were used on 14 binary continua. Each rhetorical coding device had an opposite coding device which occurred in a group with a different denominational identity. The most prevalent coding devices related to baptism. The 14 coding device continua used tangible symbolic distinctions related to the human body, including gender, or group customs much more often than they used abstract theological distinctions. The coding devices functioned to maintained community social solidarity to support the institutional aims of the local law enforcement sub-culture operating eight area prison units
