Sightings Articles
The Bible as/and Literature
W. W. Norton & Company’s recent publication of Robert Alter’s The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary is at once a cultural accomplishment of a very high order, and an opportunity to think about the places and the spaces that “the Bible” occu...
February 18, 2019
Kondo and Kuyō: Disposal as a Religious Experience?
What's religious (and what's not) about KonMari?...
February 14, 2019
Catholic Schools Tomorrow
“The then-U.S. Office of Education wrote in a 1903 report that the system of Catholic free parochial schools was the most impressive religious fact in the country at that time.” I sighted this quote in a review of Parish School: A History of American...
February 11, 2019
Announcements
I need to start with an apology. Today’s column departs from this publication’s modus operandi—“sighting” religion in current events in global cultures. Instead, with your forgiveness and permission, I’d like to use my space this month to reflect on ...
February 7, 2019
Mr. Zuckerberg, Meet Martin Luther
“Move fast and break things.” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, used to rally his developers with these words. ...
February 4, 2019
On Gods and Kings
How are we to “sight” the always intricate, sometimes chaotic, and too often hidden relationship between religious convictions and political order? More often than not it requires piecing together a jigsaw puzzle with hints from hither and yon, in bo...
January 28, 2019
Critique of Purity
At the time of this writing, the partial government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, is entering its fifth week. President Trump once declared he would “proudly” take responsibility (bear the “mantle”) for the shutdown. But in characteristi...
January 24, 2019
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and American Civil Religion
Civil religion in America...
January 21, 2019
What's in a (Religious) Name?
At the turn of the year, it is not uncommon to encounter casual “resolution professions,” whether over coffee with friends, waiting for the bus at a crowded stop, or simply tuning the car radio to various stations. Persons intent on improving their l...