Sightings Articles
Chaos and Endurance
One way that the written word has evolved with the advent of online media is the addition of “Keywords” at the end or beginning of an essay. (In fact, you’ll find them at the bottom of this column!) They can help summarize the main points of an essay...
September 9, 2019
The L-Word and “The Art of Battling Giants”
Marianne Williamson believes that all she needs is love to beat Donald Trump in 2020. ...
July 15, 2019
Defending the Ideals of Freedom in Our Non-Ideal Public Life
Democratic public life at its best...
June 24, 2019
On Gods and Kings
How are we to “sight” the always intricate, sometimes chaotic, and too often hidden relationship between religious convictions and political order? More often than not it requires piecing together a jigsaw puzzle with hints from hither and yon, in bo...
January 28, 2019
Critique of Purity
At the time of this writing, the partial government shutdown, now the longest in U.S. history, is entering its fifth week. President Trump once declared he would “proudly” take responsibility (bear the “mantle”) for the shutdown. But in characteristi...
January 24, 2019
What's in a (Religious) Name?
At the turn of the year, it is not uncommon to encounter casual “resolution professions,” whether over coffee with friends, waiting for the bus at a crowded stop, or simply tuning the car radio to various stations. Persons intent on improving their l...
January 17, 2019
DNA Tests, Indigenous Identity, and "Playing Indian"
Absent real connections to Native communities, spiritual hucksters and “wannabe Indians” not only do harm to the communities whose cultures they appropriate, but they also divert attention away from other serious issues affecting Native communities. ...
January 10, 2019
In Memoriam
“A man’s religion must not give the lie to the world in which he lives.”...
December 17, 2018
Blessed Endurance
We’ve become accustomed to seeing “Breaking News” scroll across our computer screens or televisions, usually in bursting red letters, interrupting our lives on a daily, if not hourly, basis....
December 10, 2018
Rethinking Blasphemy in Indonesia and the Fiqh Tradition
World media have reported on the blasphemy conviction of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Christian governor of Jakarta known as Ahok, with familiar oppositions of liberal-democratic norms and hardline Islam. Fears of the sharīʿa transgressing into the pu...