Sightings Articles

Why Do Christians Keep Silent About Persecution, Part 1 -- Martin E. Marty

As conflicts and negotiations in Yugoslavia end one phase and start another, arguments about American religious positions will intensify. Harold O. J. Brown in the June 1999 RELIGION AND SOCIETY REPORT newsletter (phone: 815-964-5819) tosses out a fi...

June 7, 1999

Christian Political Activism a Waste of Time? -- Martin E. Marty

WORLD magazine editors invite us to use their lenses for looking in once again on the Christian Right. We have a wandering eye that looks at rights, lefts, centers, and beyonds, so we welcome their invitation. The May 15 WORLD (subscribe@worldmag.com...

June 1, 1999

"Faith-Basing" -- Martin E. Marty

Vice President Al Gore, campaigning--as his appearance must be described--in Atlanta Monday backed "faith-based" activities that depend in part on tax support. His choice to do so looked like "trickle-over" politics to some, since Republican majoriti...

May 27, 1999

Religion "News": Looking beyond Scandal -- Martin E. Marty

As the seasons have gone by, sighting evidences of American religiousactivity has become easier. There seems to be more and better coverage in print media, as citizens make news, report on news, and read articles on news in the worlds of religion. Wh...

May 25, 1999

The Five Percenters: Racist Prison Gang or Persecuted Religion? -- Jonathan Moore

Prisons offer plentiful and self-contained opportunities to explore the limits of American religious freedom. One recent case involves the clash between prison officials in South Carolina and a group called the Five Percenters. First, a little his...

May 21, 1999

Religious Faith, Columbine, and the Media -- Jonathan Moore

We hesitate to add more to the monsoon of analysis following the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado. But faith figured significantly in the tragedy, even stirring some controversy, and the media had plenty of eyes and ears to notice. Given our m...

May 19, 1999

Columbine and Matters of Religion -- Martin E. Marty

By no means are the returns all in on the Littleton, Colorado, killings. The name of the high school, "Columbine," is likely to become a code word for a trauma, just as "Assassinations" and "Space Shuttle Challenger disaster" and "Laramie" and "Pearl...

May 17, 1999

The Spirituality in Business Movement -- Martin E. Marty

Expect both praise and criticism to grow as "spirituality" increasingly finds its home in management seminars and corporate policy and practice. At least weekly some publication or other will report on the trend to incorporate the theme and some prac...

May 14, 1999

Understanding the Role of African American Religion -- Martin E. Marty

The word "religiocification," as in the "religiocification" of the black role in the civil rights movement, is not likely to make it into the dictionary, but one can picture what it might mean. In 1969 Clifton F. Brown spoke of 1968 as the year in wh...

May 12, 1999

Concerns about Membership Decline in the Southern Baptist Convention -- Martin E. Marty

Southern Baptists demand attention. They are so webbed into Southern life that they make up what could credibly be called "the Catholic church of the South," an idea that suggests much cultural interaction. In recent decades they have moved north as ...

May 10, 1999