Sightings Articles
Competing Independence Day Ads About Religion Are Both Misleading -- Martin E. Marty
Sociologist Rodney Stark’s article in the Wall Street Journal, “The Myth of Unreligious America,” is his well-stated rejoinder to other sociologists, demographers, and religious leaders who imply that the “game is all over” for religion and religious...
July 8, 2013
This Flag Is Presented on Behalf of a Grateful Nation -- Jeanne Bishop
The Fourth of July is a good day to remember the Rev. John Boyle, warrior turned healer, who left this world not long ago....
July 4, 2013
Religious Expectations of the Presidency -- Martin E. Marty
The two front-runners for the Republican and Democratic nominations to be president get scrutinized daily for their attitudes toward and comments on religion. So do the two front-runners-up. All this is happening a year early. Come convention time ...
July 2, 2013
Epic? Epochal? The Furor Over Same-Sex Marriage -- Martin E. Marty
True to our title-metaphor “Sightings,” we regularly write about seeing, seeking, squinting, and finding evidences of religion in public life. The month of June provided many opportunities (some of them almost blinding!) to recognize religion’s role ...
July 1, 2013
Evangelical Ministry to Gays and Lesbians Admits It Caused Harm -- Martin E. Marty
Notice the tenses in Wikipedia’s entry on “Exodus International” posted only a day or two after events necessitated a change from the word “is” to “was”. Quote: “Exodus International was a non-profit interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization ...
June 24, 2013
Evangelical Ministry to Gays and Lesbians Admits It Caused Harm -- Martin E. Marty
Notice the tenses in Wikipedia’s entry on “Exodus International” posted only a day or two after events necessitated a change from the word “is” to “was”. Quote: “Exodus International was a non-profit interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization ...
June 24, 2013
Part 2: Erasing the History of Buddhist Afghanistan One Mine at a Time -- Seunghye Lee
Frantic excavation of Afghanistan’s ancient Buddhist city of Mes Aynak continues as an international team of sixty-seven archeologists retrieve as many artifacts as possible before, at the end of the month, two Chinese mining companies begin open-pit...
June 20, 2013
Demographic Changes Impact Religious Institutions -- Martin E. Marty
Demography, “the science of vital and social statistics,” can help trend-spotters discern and explain many trends in American religion. A rule of concerned participants in religious groups where trends are more often “downward-” than “upward-” pointi...
June 17, 2013
Erasing the History of Buddhist Afghanistan One Mine at a Time -- Brent E. Huffman
In Afghanistan, international teams of archaeologists are scrambling to finish excavating Mes Aynak, a massive Buddhist city covering 125 acres that is estimated to be over 2,000 years old. Two government-owned Chinese companies, the China Metallurgi...