Sightings
Reporting and commenting on the role of religion in public life.
Time in Coronatide: Why We’re Not Actually Living in Groundhog Day
Exploring how our experience of time is altered by the pandemic and what reflecting on ‘pandemic time’ (with some help from Augustine) might teach us
A Normalized Sense of Hopelessness
By Cynthia G. LindnerMaking America Great at the Expense of Her Soul
July 23, 2020
Stop Asking What the Bible Means to the President
By Seth PerryA historian of the bible in America reflects on what Trump’s recent photo-op in front of St. John’s Church does (and doesn’t) mean
June 8, 2020
Hate and Its Elusion
By Matthew CreightonLessons learned (and lessons needed) about anti-Semitism in the time of COVID-19
July 9, 2020
Recent Columns
Summer Hiatus
By The EditorDear Readers, Per tradition, Sightings will be closing up shop for the month of August—a chance for us to gear up for another year of insightful rep...
July 30, 2020
Moral Reckoning Under a Mushroom Cloud
By William GeorgeOn the morning of August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. Nagasaki was similarly bombed three days later. T...
July 27, 2020
A Normalized Sense of Hopelessness
By Cynthia G. LindnerIf you or your loved ones have seemed especially sad, angry, or bored during this seemingly unending pandemic season, you are not alone. A study publi...
July 22, 2020
The Art of the Social Contract
By Richard A. RosengartenIt has been remarked that the most profound interpretation of a work of art is another work of art. One case in point is Kadir Nelson’s June 22, 2020,...
July 20, 2020
Toppling History?
By William SchweikerAnd on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round ...
July 15, 2020
Tools for Studying Pandemic Religion
By A. Trevor SuttonIn 1959, an electrical engineer named Paul Baran proposed a robust communication network capable of surviving nuclear assault. Long-distance telephone...
July 13, 2020
Hate and Its Elusion
By Matthew CreightonThe global bout with coronavirus is oftentimes construed in oppositional, martial terms. The refrain heard is that we are waging a collective “battle”...
July 9, 2020
The Hypocrisy Juke
By Russell P. JohnsonNo matter how bad something is, there’s always something worse. Or so it seems according to the popular rhetorical move I call the “hypocrisy juke.” I...
July 6, 2020
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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.