Sightings Articles
Religious Expectations of the Presidency -- Martin E. Marty
The two front-runners for the Republican and Democratic nominations to be president get scrutinized daily for their attitudes toward and comments on religion. So do the two front-runners-up. All this is happening a year early. Come convention time ...
July 2, 2013
Epic? Epochal? The Furor Over Same-Sex Marriage -- Martin E. Marty
True to our title-metaphor “Sightings,” we regularly write about seeing, seeking, squinting, and finding evidences of religion in public life. The month of June provided many opportunities (some of them almost blinding!) to recognize religion’s role ...
July 1, 2013
Evangelical Ministry to Gays and Lesbians Admits It Caused Harm -- Martin E. Marty
Notice the tenses in Wikipedia’s entry on “Exodus International” posted only a day or two after events necessitated a change from the word “is” to “was”. Quote: “Exodus International was a non-profit interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization ...
June 24, 2013
Evangelical Ministry to Gays and Lesbians Admits It Caused Harm -- Martin E. Marty
Notice the tenses in Wikipedia’s entry on “Exodus International” posted only a day or two after events necessitated a change from the word “is” to “was”. Quote: “Exodus International was a non-profit interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization ...
June 24, 2013
Demographic Changes Impact Religious Institutions -- Martin E. Marty
Demography, “the science of vital and social statistics,” can help trend-spotters discern and explain many trends in American religion. A rule of concerned participants in religious groups where trends are more often “downward-” than “upward-” pointi...
June 17, 2013
Interfaith Marriages: Religious Tolerance or Religious Dilution? -- Martin E. Marty
“Every living and healthy religion has a marked idiosyncrasy” wrote philosopher George Santayana, and its power comes from the “special and surprising message and the bias which that revelation gives to life.” He preferred to see religions interact p...
June 10, 2013
Father Andrew Greeley: A Priest of Many Worlds -- Martin E. Marty
Father Andrew Greeley, who died last week, embodied “public” concerns in religion and theology. Fittingly, the University of Chicago’s David Tracy who is the “Greeley” Professor of Catholic Studies (Emeritus)—a chair endowed by Andrew—provided what h...
June 3, 2013
Is Pope Francis a Modernizing Reformer? Kung Hopes Yes -- Martin E. Marty
The names of Catholic theologian Hans Küng and Pope Francis are both in the news because Küng was sighted saying friendly things about the Pope and the Pope was apparently saying friendly things about God-and-atheists. Such stories demand or evoke in...
May 27, 2013
Evangelicals Bring Christ to the Ivy League -- Martin E. Marty
The Ivy League Christian Observer arrives quarterly, beckoning for attention, whichSightings provides. The stated mission of Christian Union (CU), the Observer’s publisher, is this: to bring Christ to students attending elite American colleges and un...
May 20, 2013
Spotlight on the Religious Left -- Martin E. Marty
Almost always Sightings takes off from the sighting of a particular recent news event. This week, for fun and games, we’ll make an exception and address a generic theme: the religious left. Several weeks ago we commented on Jim Wallis, the leader...