Sightings Articles
Learning from Tariq Ramadan — Martin E. Marty
Last month, Notre Dame's R. Scott Appleby, at a seminar we led in Aspen, described his university's new star scholar, Tariq Ramadan. He expressed the importance of hearing Ramadan's voice in American academe, in open conversation with non-Muslims (No...
August 13, 2004
The Path to Harmony — Courtney S. Wilder
The Vatican, in a recent statement entitled, "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World," explicitly blames feminism for "antagonism" and "opposition between men and women." The ...
August 12, 2004
Supreme Court Theology — Brian Britt
College religion courses come in many varieties, with no consistency in labeling. "Theology" at one school may be called "religious studies" at another, and at still others missionaries are trained under the rubric of "intercultural studies." While m...
August 9, 2004
Fair Treatment — Martin E. Marty
Last month, before a lecture at the Aspen Institute in Colorado, I littered the stage with clippings from four newspapers times seven days. Explicit references to religion appeared in headlines by the dozens. We long-time reporters on religion are my...
August 9, 2004
Neuroscience and Religious Architecture — Arthur E. Farnsley II
In late April, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) held a workshop entitled "Experiencing Sacred Spaces." The workshop was held in Columbus, Indiana and showcased the city's fine modern architecture including churches by Eliel Saarine...
August 5, 2004
The Greatest Divide — Martin E. Marty
In the Austin, Texas, American-Statesman (July 25), Bill Bishop climaxed a series on "the great divide" between the two Americas this election year. Perhaps he expected to find that local congregations would be places where some give-and-take of theo...
August 2, 2004
Biblical Feminists — Alena Amato Ruggerio
Correction: July column "Biblical Feminists" (7/29/04), by Dr. Alena Amato Ruggerio, asserted that Christianity Today cancelled an advertisement after receiving pressure from the organization Christians for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. No one from...
July 29, 2004
Addressing the Nation — Martin E. Marty
Some front-rank religious thinkers fed Peter Steinfels (New York Times, July 24) good recommendations for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. I'll add a P.S. by pushing for a little article by Michael E. Bailey and Kristin Lindholm cal...
July 26, 2004
The Cicada Complex — Jeremy Biles
As the swarm of periodical cicadas known as Brood X emerged along the Atlantic coast over the past couple months, the American media clambered to track the eruption. Alongside news reports and web sites tending to the cicadas, there were scores of ar...
July 22, 2004
Making Peace with Potter — Martin E. Marty
This Sightings is sent as a message in a bottle, floated from Washington Island, Wisconsin, where I am co-leading a retreat. Distant from most media stimuli, I did my sighting of a book, John Granger's Looking for God in Harry Potter (Tyndale). Rea...