Sightings Articles

Midnight Mass image

Islamophobia | fundamentalism | Christian Right | Muslims | 9/11

Midnight Mass and the Spectre of Terror

A generation has grown up under the shadow of post-9/11 preoccupation with Islam and Muslims: Midnight Mass presents something far more interesting ...

January 21, 2022
jan 6 protesters

political partisanship | decline | democracy | American exceptionalism | america

Epiphanies Of Power and/or Goodness

The epiphany of this January is at root about the profound need to civilize the nation....

January 12, 2022
desmund tutu street art

Desmond Tutu | social justice | global Christianity

The Revolutionary Joy of Desmond Tutu

There is a danger in softening Tutu’s legacy, but we make the same mistake in the opposite direction if we forget his contagious, all-embracing joy....

January 6, 2022
q-anon

conspiracy theories | cults | American religion

The Power of Belief in Conspiracy Theories

People who subscribe to QAnon maintain that Donald Trump remains the “true” president... why would anyone believe this?...

December 17, 2021
gathering in s. korea

South Korea | political religion | cults | Christianity

Christian Apocalypse in Pandemic-Stricken South Korea

Christianity in South Korea will never be the same post-pandemic....

December 9, 2021
image of the us capital

democracy | politics | right-wing

Extremism and Defense of Democracy

If we focus on policing acceptable political ideas via the state, we do more to undermine democracy than to secure it....

December 2, 2021
burning books

political correctness | political partisanship | censorship

Fahrenheit 451 Redux: Free Thinking in the Present?

Enough with champions of the right and the left, the book burners and those of cancel culture: the present moment calls for a few more firemen like Ray Bradbury....

November 18, 2021
church and state

liberalism | Thomas Jefferson | Catholicism | Church and State | Benedict Option

Liberalism’s Faith

On Maggie Nelson, the free exchange of ideas that fundamentalists fear, and the faith that must ground any tenable liberalism...

November 11, 2021
facebook eye reflection

Social Media | Pope Francis | Internet

The Irony of Facebook

Ironically, social media sites draw upon our natural desire to have friends but they can make it more difficult to truly connect....

November 4, 2021
protest hand BLM on wall

Race and religion | Southern Baptists | Southern Baptist Convention

We Are Building Up A New World

Critical Race Theory’s Progressive Vision vs the Southern Baptist Convention’s Regressive Politics...

October 28, 2021