Sightings Articles
Wall Street Journal -- Martin E. Marty
Sightings research begins early in the morning, after four daily newspapers thud onto our porch at 4:45 a.m. Among them is the Wall Street Journal. At our house we think of it as two papers: informative and generally fair-minded news coverage coupled...
January 6, 2003
The Future of Secularization Theory -- Richard V. Pierard
The assumptions of academics and social commentators about the certain decline of Christianity in the West were challenged at a international conference on the future of Christianity in the West at the University of Otago in New Zealand this past Dec...
January 2, 2003
Year's End -- Martin E. Marty
This week the various religious periodicals and internet outlets issue their "Top Ten" religion news stories of 2002. Rather than add to the listings, Sightings will end the year commenting on the great increase in the number of stories to rank. The ...
December 30, 2002
Benisons -- Martin E. Marty
The University of Chicago’s rarely heard alma mater has a redundant line that includes the words “blessings” and “benisons.” I use the latter word increasingly, so: “Christ-mass” benisons to the Christ-massers among you. And all the other benisons to...
December 23, 2002
A Letter from Jerusalem: Christmas 2002 -- Ithamar Gruenwald
Christmas this year cannot be like any Christmas in previous years. In the year that has passed, the Church of the Nativity was turned -- for a while -- into a beleaguered fortress. Arab Palestinians forced their way into the Church, and Israeli troo...
December 19, 2002
Catholicism and American Hispanics: In, Out, or Spiritual? -- Martin E. Marty
Sighting evidences of religion in American public life is easy, there are so many. Choosing which to highlight is more difficult. Friday last, the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law and an executive order giving a jump-start to federal funding of "f...
December 16, 2002
Code Orange: Panic in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction -- Jeremy Biles
Over a year has passed since the disaster of September 11, 2001. During this time, America has been in a state of "heightened alert." Code Orange, even when not officially declared by the government, has become the order of the day. The panic that en...
December 12, 2002
Interfaith Marriage -- Martin E. Marty
Sightings attends to public expressions of religion. Not too long ago, that would have left topics such as marriage, residential life, leisure life, and worship safely in the private sphere. The rest of the world then took care of public life: econom...
December 9, 2002
Tintern Abbey -- Lawrence Webb
There's a majesty about the huge church in the little Welsh village in the Wye Valley. The complex of buildings adjoining the church once housed an order of contemplative monks who spent much of each day in silence. Everything about Tintern Abbey ...
December 5, 2002
The Good, the Bad and the WCC -- Martin E. Marty
The good news is that Israel Singer, chair of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultation (IJCIC) at a recent conference sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, combined firmness with civility in dealing with Jewish-Catholi...