Sightings Articles
Breivik’s Christianity -- Martin E. Marty
Sightings returns to work after a month away. Start with a timely quiz. Q: What do the following have in common? Anders Behring Breivik, killer of scores of innocents in Norway; assassins Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK) and Sirhan Sirhan (RFK); serial k...
August 1, 2011
The Secularization of the Cross by Martin E. Marty
Weekly, year in and year out, we sight new evidence that defining what is “religious” and what is “secular” remains difficult in the United States. One way to trace some attempts is to read The Humanist, as we often do. “Cross Purposes,” in the curre...
June 27, 2011
Generation Wandering by Matin E. Marty
Backlash against the hyper-institutionalism of religious organizations in the 1950s led first to revolt (“the sixties”) and the birth of a lifestyle summarized in the mantra, “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual.” Today some returnees are nervy enou...
June 20, 2011
Attitudes Towards Abortion among American Religious Groups by Martin E. Marty
Life is short, and if you want to spend what’s left of it examining the results of the latest poll of attitudes towards abortion, follow the link to the Public Religion Research Institute and receive the unsummarized set of findings. If you have othe...
June 13, 2011
Who Lost Europe? by Martin E. Marty
“Who lost China?” was a taunting and accusatory question aimed at United States leaders by their political critics in the 1950s. We’ll leave that question unaddressed and unanswered. Now: “Who lost Europe?” Those who ask it claim to have answers, whe...
June 6, 2011
Humanism, Newt Gingrich, and Sightings by Martin E. Marty
Sightings just entered its thirteenth year of keeping an eye on public representations of religion. Let’s see, that’s 13 times almost 52 weeks (my half of this bi-weekly publication.) By now, faithful readers can have drawn some conclusions about our...
May 30, 2011
Sam Harris's Atheism by Martin E. Marty
“Same Old New Atheism,” last week’s clipping about religion sighted in the public sphere (it might as well be labeled “Same New Old Atheism”) is a 6800-word review which places the trendy “New Atheism” in the context of previous efforts to establish ...
May 23, 2011
Southern Baptist Good News by Martin E. Marty
We have to wear virtual sunglasses when we do our too-rare Sightings of positive religion news in public media, so bright are these exceptions to the down and depressing accounts. Since most religious people and those who benefit from their doings se...
May 16, 2011
David Barton's Christian America by Martin E. Marty
Last weekend was supposed to belong to Osama Bin Laden, and he was noticed, also by those who monitor the fates of religions in media. Amazingly, he had to share space and time with a figure self-described as an historian, and other-described as “lit...
May 9, 2011
American Christians and Capitalism by Martin E. Marty
“God has cursed the earth. . . This is the starting point for all economic analysis. The earth no longer gives up her fruits automatically. Man must sweat to eat.” So writes Gary North, “the leading proponent of ‘Christian economics,’” which connects...