Sightings Articles
The Common Good — Martin E. Marty
Sometimes we do our sightings and findings of religion-in-public-life themes among throwaway or incidental lines, writings or sayings which suddenly hit us with unexpected force. A seemingly banal one struck me, and provides the base for all charter...
October 19, 2009
Israel After Utopia — Martin E. Marty
Israel, its politics and policies and its religion(s) past and present, is the subject of so much pro and con (never neutral) comment in media, politics, and religious circles, that we could do enough sighting each week to fill this column. In such a...
October 12, 2009
Evangelicaldom — Martin E. Marty
Take one day, say Friday, October 2, in the life of what we should start calling “Evangelicaldom.” One-fourth to one-third of Americans consider themselves “Evangelicals.” Many are exemplary citizens and, let us say, exemplary Christians. Somewher...
October 5, 2009
Walking a Fine Line in U.S. Catholic — Martin E. Marty
“Sightings” usually draws on secular news and opinion sources as part of its mission to deal with religion in American public life. However, religious periodicals and blogs deal as much with secular life as they do with ecclesiastical themes. For y...
September 28, 2009
Navigating Religion News — Martin E. Marty
Tomorrow’s (September 22) Christian Century cover features “Navigating the News.” Assuming that many readers of Sightings read that magazine and wishing the rest of you did, I don’t often reach to it for sightings of religious news and features. This...
September 21, 2009
Self-loathing — Martin E. Marty
While the staff took time away from the Center, this writer took a day off in Nebraska, after a year which included time spent in Prague, Helsinki, and Paris. In none of these four places did my dimming journalistic eye and ear detect massive and sui...
September 14, 2009
Giving — Martin E. Marty
Giving USA Foundation last month reported on "giving, U.S.A." under a headline, "Giving in worst economic climate since Great Depression exceeds $300 billion for second year in a row," but "a 2 percent drop in current dollars over 2007," as well as "...
July 27, 2009
Jimmy Carter and the Elders — Martin E. Marty
Two years ago last weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa, twelve senior statespersons met to form a group called, yes, the Elders. Their founding date, July 18, 2007, may not go down in history as a turning-point, but-who knows?-it may well at least ...
July 20, 2009
Homosexuality and Slavery in the Bible — Martin E. Marty
Annually I write the report on "Protestantism" for World Book and other yearbooks. For a dozen or score of years now, the lead story always has to be about churches tearing themselves apart in lose-lose battles over the blessing of gay marriages and...
July 13, 2009
A Week in "Secular" America — Martin E. Marty
Internet print-outs overload my "in-bucket" of items about the public face of religion in America on a daily basis. Regular subscribers, however, know that the week comes to its climax as we scan the two national dailies, the Friday Wall Street Jour...