Sightings Articles
The Myth of the Myth of Freedom -- Martin E. Marty
Two running and highly visible examples of religious groups under governmental investigation or court summons are Islamic charities, which may or may not be funneling funds to terrorist groups, and Catholic dioceses, which may or may not be guilty of...
April 22, 2002
Living in Glass Houses -- Martin E. Marty
Scandal Brings Out the Bigots: Sex Charges Just an Excuse to Revel in Anti-Catholicism." That headlines the April 12 column of sociologist, novelist, columnist, and friend Father Andrew Greeley in the Chicago Sun-Times and elsewhere. Yes, there is a ...
April 15, 2002
A Spreading Conflict -- Martin E. Marty
The escalating belligerence on both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has caused alliances to shift and solidify. Suicide ttacks on Israel bring partisan Jews into at least temporary alliances. Israeli military attacks on Palestinians bring M...
April 8, 2002
The Translation Sensation -- Martin E. Marty
Devoting two whole pages of the March 27 USA Today to arguments over Bible translations, as Cathy Lynn Grossman and her editors did this Holy Week, might have seemed like a drab choice to people who live any distance from church conflicts. Those who ...
April 1, 2002
Of Faith and Sacrifice . . . Flies -- Martin E. Marty
April Fool's Day is still a week off, but I am in the mood for a day off today. Pedophilia. Anti-Semitism. Al-Qaeda. Recent front-page words relating to religion deal overwhelmingly with devastations. So we turn for a moment to a more positive experi...
March 24, 2002
America the Shmoo -- Martin E. Marty
Cathy Grossman's story in the March 7 edition of USA Today carried the headline: "Charting Unchurched America: 14% profess no religion. For them, spirituality is found elsewhere." Grossman was reporting on assessments by American Religious Identity S...
March 18, 2002
Meaningful Judaism, Meaningful Challenges -- Martin E. Marty
Judaism is not all and only about war in Israel, controversy over the Nixon-Graham conversations, and other headline items. Serious Jews ponder the fate of Judaism in "ordinary life." So the February 22 issue of Forward excerpts a speech by Steven M....
March 11, 2002
The Recurring "They" and the Truer "We" -- Martin E. Marty
There are three related debate topics that just won't go away this winter: are "they" totally evil and "we" simply good; is "their" religion murderous and "ours" benign; is "their" Book a manual and license for war and "ours" a sourcebook for peace a...
March 4, 2002
The Bear, the Bull, and the Religious Marketplace -- Martin E. Marty
Barbara Crossette's story "A Tough Time to Talk Peace" in the New York Times (February 12, 2002), reports that in New York City, Buddhism -- described as a philosophy, but who does not also find it among the religions in every encyclopedia? -- has co...
February 25, 2002
Suffer the Children -- Martin E. Marty
America's cardinal Cardinal, Cardinal Bernard F. Law of the Boston archdiocese is at a crossroads of media coverage on today's most devastating churchly topic, priestly pedophilia. Law's experience, his warm relations with the Vatican, and politicos ...