Sightings Articles

December Belongings -- Martin E. Marty

"Islam Gets Spot for the Holidays," headlined the November seventeenth issue of The Chicago Tribune. The subhead read: "Minaret to Join Manger, Menorah." Similar headlines appear in newspapers across the country. On one side, the negative, they repre...

December 3, 2001

Pilgrims' Progress? -- Martin E. Marty

What or who killed the Pilgrims? I don't mean what literally killed them. Disease, want, and the perils of the wilderness -- not the Native Americans -- claimed many during the seasons "before Thanksgiving" after the Mayflower landed. I mean "what" a...

November 26, 2001

Numbers Games: Handle With Care -- Martin E. Marty

"How many Muslims (or Jews or Mormons or Christians) live in the United States?" For decades the Census has not been allowed to count noses to determine who is what religiously. So observers of American religion are left to their own devices to asses...

November 19, 2001

Staying at the Table in Boston and Israel -- Martin E. Marty

Sightings does not usually "do" international politics. We report on domestic implications, but the two come together more frequently these days. During a late October trip to Boston, these four headlines appeared in The Boston Globe: "Bishops Join P...

November 12, 2001

Testing Faith in the Market God -- Martin E. Marty

Theologian Harvey Cox's article "The Market as God" (The Atlantic Monthly, March, 1999) puckishly and pointedly showed how much "market talk" matched theological talk, how often " the market" was being given attributes that usually were given to God,...

November 5, 2001

Listening to Lactantius -- Martin E. Marty

Most whose lives are devoted to something other than the study of ancient Christianity have never heard of Lactantius. I had not since my Ph.D. exams forty-five years ago, and had little occasion to remember him or find him relevant since then. Schol...

October 29, 2001

Words to War By -- Martin E. Marty

In the desperate search for clarity, some find it where it is not. These are the words of columnist Linda Chavez, published in the 10 October edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Despite what our leaders keep telling us, Islam is not inherently a peace...

October 15, 2001

The Relevance of Niebuhrian Irony -- Martin E. Marty

Last week's issues of Sightings provoked opposite responses. The majority of respondents to Monday's column by Lloyd Averill dissented vigorously against a column that spoke up for the duty and mission of religious voices to reserve and exercise the ...

October 8, 2001

The Voices of Our Young -- Martin E. Marty

Whoever goes sighting religion in American public life is likely to cast a camera eye on many a silver-crowned head. One takes for granted that participants in town meetings, forums, ceremonies, task forces, interest groups, lecture audiences, church...