Sightings Articles
Cultural Dominance by Martin E. Marty
The class will please come to order. Our text today is "The Law of Cultural Dominance," formulated by David Kaplan in Cultural Evolution, published fifty-two years ago, and noticed too little since. I find online that I quoted it in a scholarly artic...
May 7, 2012
Secularism, Nationalism and Religious Minorities in Turkey by Ramazan Kılınç
In a recent New York Times article Susanne Güsten described the difficulties that Syriac Christians faced throughout the history of Republican Turkey. This story reflects the traumatic consequences of the nation-building process that modern Turkey ha...
May 3, 2012
David Barton's Jefferson by Martin E. Marty
Our premier historian of late colonial and early republican America, Gordon Wood, while reviewing a book on Roger Williams warms up readers with references to Thomas Jefferson. "It's easy to believe in the separation of church and state when one has ...
April 30, 2012
An Islamic State in Egypt? The Muslim Brotherhood and the Presidential Elections by Barbara Zollner
The battle over Egypt's democratic future is at a significant crossroads. But while the fight for succession to Mubarak's throne is fully under way, the rules of the competition seem to be constantly changing. Only two weeks ago, the Muslim Brothe...
April 26, 2012
Annenberg Poll on Religion in the Media by Martin E. Marty
"Most Americans Say Media Coverage of Religion Too Sensationalized" reads the headline of a report on a poll of a sample of "the public" and of journalists. That headline is perhaps a bit too sensationalized itself, because the pollsters had to choos...
April 23, 2012
Double-Binding Eagle Feathers by Brendan Q. Swagerty
The Associated Press released two stories concerning the important and controversial March 9, 2012 permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Northern Arapaho Nation allowing them to kill or capture up to two bald eagles a year for re...
April 19, 2012
The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth by Karl W. Lampley
In his Time magazine article, "Heaven Can't Wait," dated April 16, 2012, Jon Meacham contrasts two seemingly competing visions of heaven in contemporary Christianity. One prominent view envisions heaven as the ethereal place one goes when one dies. I...
April 12, 2012
God's Care for the Poor by Martin E. Marty
The text for today's meditation comes from The Wall Street Journal, a quotation provided by a major novelist, whose newest work was being reviewed. The quote, first: "The Lord commands us to 'do good to all men,' universally, a great part of whom, es...
April 9, 2012
Reckoning Reality in The Hunger Games by Emanuelle Burton
Many of the most important scholars of religion and ethics, from Martha Nussbaum to Stanley Hauerwas, argue that fiction can enrich our understanding of the moral life in a manner that cannot be replicated by abstract argument. But when these scholar...
April 5, 2012
Ecumenical Realities by Martin E. Marty
"Hopes for an 'Ecumenical Spring'" was a Christian Century headline above a report by Adelle M. Banks of the Religion News Service. Her report spelled out why such hopes are wan, if not desperate. Three samples: The National Council of Churches has s...