Sightings Articles
Hispanic Catholic Trends — Martin E. Marty
“This is huge.” Emma Green interrupts her own reporting (May 7, 2014) on desertions from Roman Catholic heritage and affiliation. Before her self-interruptive gasp she had begun her report: “According to a new Pew study, over the past three years, th...
May 12, 2014
Eleven Scholars, Eleven Accounts of God and the Moral Life, Part 1
Sightings summarizes five of the presentations from the “God: Theological Accounts and Ethical Possibilities?” conference....
May 8, 2014
Death Penalty — Martin E. Marty
“People who believe in the death penalty should be very concerned about this,” warned David B. Muhlhausen of “the conservative Heritage Foundation.” “This” is what Muhlhusen suspects is a move by President Obama “to weaken the death penalty system.” ...
May 5, 2014
Can Israel Reinvigorate Jewish Identity At Home and Abroad? A Major Initiative Says "Yes" — David Gottlieb
“The Prime Minister’s Initiative,” ...
May 1, 2014
Canonizations — Martin E. Marty
Yesterday, the Roman Catholic world and many other worlds celebrated the canonization of two new saints, Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. Non-comatose readers ofSightings need no further attention to be paid to the details and the drama of the ...
April 28, 2014
Habemus Sanctum: Catholic Church Recognizes Two Former Popes as Saints — Matthew Petrusek
On April 27th, Pope Francis will canonize two new saints, both former popes: Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II. The event will likely draw millions of the faithful (and the curious) to Rome to witness the ceremony. To formally recognize some...
April 24, 2014
British Priesthood Uptick — Martin E. Marty
Do you know what “wonga” is? I didn’t, but my research assistant, Dr. Google, helped me learn. An Australian English word of aboriginal origin, “wonga” is slang for money in certain parts of Britain. Why care? Because the staid Economist (April 19, 2...
April 21, 2014
Activist Barbara Ehrenreich on "Living With a 'Wild' God" — Betty M. Bayer
Online, radio, and print news is abuzz about Barbara Ehrenreich’s new book, Living with a Wild God, with the paradoxical subtitle, A Nonbeliever’s Search for the Truth about Everything. And, yes, this is the “fourth-generation atheist,” Barbara Ehren...
April 17, 2014
Pope Asks for Forgiveness — Martin E. Marty
Holy Week in the Western Christian calendar is a time for Christians to confess their sins, ask for forgiveness, and seek to amend their lives. A billion believers will be doing all that in the five days ahead. Some may do it in their churches, some ...
April 14, 2014
Have Digital Devices Become Modern Fetishes? — Rory Johnson
In the first season of the television series Revolution a show about a post-apocalyptic Earth where electrical devices cannot function Maggie Foster, played by Anna Lise Philips, carries a defunct cell phone in hopes that one day the power will retur...