Sightings Articles
America the Imperfect, America the Beautiful
A veteran's reflection on the meaning of Memorial Day
May 31, 2021
In What Do We Trust?
Reflecting on what holds us together as a society that embodies justice
June 22, 2020
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
Festivals of Forgetting
Perhaps more than other years, this July in the United States has been filled with festivals. President Trump’s excessive “Salute to America” was filled with jets, armored vehicles, marches, and a Presidential speech. Many have also enjoyed the mont...
July 22, 2019
Springsteen’s Promised Land (It’s Not What You Think)
Bruce Springsteen, a self-professed “lapsed” Roman Catholic whose spirituality draws heavily upon his upbringing, has crafted a career-long message: we, as individuals and as a nation, can transcend trauma. Netflix gave us an enormous gift recent...
March 28, 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...