Sightings
Reporting and commenting on the role of religion in public life.
Is the Climate Crisis a Secular Eschatology?
What does religion have to do with climate change activism?
How War Bypasses Morality
By Russell P. JohnsonExamining how wartime decisions often end up violating our ethical beliefs about war
January 6, 2020
Memory Full: Boomers and the Art of Never Going Away
By David GottliebHow an aging generation is preserving its youthfulness ... forever
January 20, 2020
Everything’s on Sale: Appropriations of Religion
By William SchweikerA sighting of the unseen forces of religion at work during the holidays and what they tell us about this age
December 23, 2019
Disruptive Religion
By Cynthia G. LindnerWhy we sometimes need religion to offend us and disturb the status quo
January 2, 2020
Recent Columns
Memory Full: Boomers and the Art of Never Going Away
By David GottliebSightings, as its readers know, peers through the lens of contemporary media and culture in order to reflect on public perceptions of and approaches t...
January 20, 2020
United Methodist Schism and the ‘Protocol’ of 2020
By William B. LawrenceIt was breaking news on January 3 when sixteen United Methodists who represent views across the political spectrum of the church released a plan to sp...
January 15, 2020
Sunday Is ...
By Martin E. Marty“Sunday Is Not the New Monday” shouted the headline of the “Success” section in a recent edition of our Chicago Tribune (Monday, December 30, 2019). H...
January 13, 2020
General Suleimani, U.S. Policy, and Jus ad Vim
By John KelsayThe killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani by U.S. forces may be discussed in legal, moral, strategic, and other terms. I propose to focus on mor...
January 9, 2020
How War Bypasses Morality
By Russell P. Johnson“We took action to stop war, not to start it,” President Trump said in his recent statement about the attack against Qassim Soleimani. This statement ...
January 6, 2020
Disruptive Religion
By Cynthia G. LindnerEarlier last month, as the Christian season of Advent began and images of the Holy Family emerged on church lawns around the U.S., multiple media outl...
January 2, 2020
Everything’s on Sale: Appropriations of Religion
By William SchweikerIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the e...
December 23, 2019
Jews and Judaism, Religion and Identity
By Simeon ChavelIn the wake of a growing number of acts of anti-Semitism across America and around the world in recent years (see the details measured by the Anti-Def...
December 18, 2019
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Browse by Associated TagsSighting Religion in the Public Square
Through the eyes, ears, and keyboards of a diverse group of writers, Sightings displays a kaleidoscope of religious activity: a reflection of how religious currents are shaping and being shaped in the world.