Sightings Articles
Commencement 2020: Let the Adulting Begin
What do this year's graduation ceremonies, hallmark rituals of American civil religion, reveal about the state of our collective soul?
May 21, 2020
Who—or What—is Above the Law?
The presence and absence of religion in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump
January 23, 2020
Christmas Movies and the Religious Dimensions of Story Structure
Can religion help settle the debate about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie?
December 2, 2019
What to the Immigrant is Veterans Day?
John Sianghio reflects on the complicated nature of American identity for immigrants today
November 14, 2019
The Blinding Idol
Daniel Owings discusses the shortcomings of idolatry imagery for understanding Donald Trump
October 17, 2019
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and American Civil Religion
Over the years, several Sightings authors have cited Robert Bellah’s justly famous essay, “Civil Religion in America,” which was published in 1967. A natural point of reference for a publication that aims to identify and characterize the places of re...
January 21, 2019
#TheLateUnpleasantness
The war came, again, in August, this time in the guise of what The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb dubbed “The Battle of Charlottesville.” Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” hopped their basket and marched on the Lawn of the University of Virginia on the eveni...
September 28, 2017
Taking a Knee as Critical Civil Religion
What happens when we compare Colin Kaepernick to Tim Tebow? Here we have two professional football players “taking a knee” not for a coach’s huddle but to express personal convictions outside the boundaries of their sport. I understand how much th...
January 5, 2017
Redefining the American Civil Religion
Editor's note. This is the third in a series of essays on the Trump phenomenon—or "Trumpism," if such a thing can be defined—and what it reveals about the relationship between religion and politics in America today. Be sure to check out the previous ...
October 6, 2016
Refusing to Stand: Can America's Civil Religion Tolerate Dissent?
Even people who do not follow the National Football League likely have heard of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem before games this season. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a fl...