Sightings Articles

A pile of shiny gold coins with the letter "B" prominent on their face

Cryptocurrency | Bitcoin | cults

The Passion of Bitcoin Jesus

In the rush to declare cryptocurrency a new religion, we risk overlooking these stories about how “old” religions are making sense of crypto....

May 15, 2024
Figurines on a shelf

pop culture | anime | Japanese religions

Demon Slayer: Pop Religion and Japanese Anime

The recent anime film both draws inspiration from Japanese religions and functions as a source of inspiration for religious practices....

May 8, 2024
Black and white image of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold

morality | Leopold and Loeb | Philosophy | Friedrich Nietzsche

Telling the Stories of Leopold and Loeb

Thinking about Leopold and Loeb as well as their inspiration and their trial shows the importance of how we narrate the history of morality....

May 3, 2024
Saint Catherine of Siena in white veil and crown of thorns, looking down.

saints | Mental Health | reductionism

Diagnosing Saints

Identifying health issues in religious exemplars can help reduce stigma and illustrate that virtue and mental illness are not mutually exclusive, but we must hold such diagnoses lightly....

April 24, 2024
A man carries a child holding a blue balloon decorated as the earth

ethics | climate change | parenthood | kinship

Sustaining Kin in the Climate Crisis: An Earth Day Reflection

As climate change deters more young adults from parenthood, some are finding creative and constructive ways to build relationships with children who are not biologically their own....

April 17, 2024
A collection of IVF fertility drugs on a bedspread

IVF | ethics | care

The Alabama IVF Decision is About Care Work

We must learn to see infertility treatment and queer family building as essential moments of care, and not as unintended casualties of a bigger debate on abortion....

April 11, 2024
Reflection of a black horse-drawn buggy passing a white farm house

Amish | Religion and media | politics | Technology

Today's Amish Are Plain, Not Simple

Comments by Stephen Colbert overlook the complexity of Amish culture in the 21st century....

April 4, 2024
ink landscape painting with mountains and gold flecks in the sky

Philosophy | multiculturalism | education

Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist Philosophy: Converting to Multiculturalism

Once we examine the roots of “Buddhaphobia” in philosophical education, we can get easily beyond it....

March 29, 2024
Headshot of Curtis Evans next to book cover of Theology of Brotherhood

Theology | Anti-Racism | Progressive Christianity

A Forgotten Story about Christian Anti-Racism

In "A Theology of Brotherhood," Curtis Evans traces progressive Christians’ work in the early twentieth century....

March 21, 2024
"The Exvangelicals" book cover and headshot of Sarah McCammon

Evangelicalism | politics | Religion and media

Leaving Evangelicalism Behind

"The Exvangelicals" is both timely and superb: It deals with the issues that will decide the 2024 elections and discusses them with sensitivity, sophistication, and bravery. 

March 14, 2024