Sightings Articles
Charitable Choice — Sheila Suess Kennedy
At a recent lecture by eminent sociologist Robert Wuthnow, I was introduced to the speaker by one of my colleagues, who mentioned my three-year study of the first Charitable Choice legislation -- the precursor to President Bush's Faith-Based Initiati...
October 29, 2003
When the Secular Is Not Secular -- Sheila Suess Kennedy
Religious matters are increasingly in the news. There are the controversies over abuse in the Catholic Church, eruptions of European anti-Semitism in the wake of Arab-Israeli violence, and solemn arguments about the nature of Islam in the wake of 9/1...
July 10, 2002
The Level Playing Field -- Sheila Suess Kennedy
In legal circles these days, there is much talk about tensions between the Establishment and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. If a public school allows the Dungeons and Dragons club to distribute flyers at recess, can it bar the Bible Club...
March 21, 2002
Bush's Faith-Based Initiative: Asking the Right Question -- Sheila Suess Kennedy
My mother is in a Jewish nursing home. All the food is kosher. There are mezuzot (decorative boxes containing Jewish prayers) at the entrance to each room. Religious services are provided regularly. Yet the nursing home receives substantial income fr...