Sightings Articles
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
Kaddish
During the first week of mourning (shiva), the minyan comes to the mourner, with daily morning and evening services taking place in their home. After that first week, it’s incumbent on the mourner to find or make a service. ...
January 7, 2019
A Season of Myths, Part Two
Come what may, the Christmas season is inescapable in America this time of year. ...
December 24, 2018
Unto Us a Child Is … Gene-Edited?
As we approach Christmas, song and spoken word remind us: “unto us a child is born.” There are various faith issues related to birth beyond the Advent theme of immaculate conception; for example, concerns related to human-initiated fertilization, abo...
December 20, 2018
In Memoriam
“A man’s religion must not give the lie to the world in which he lives.”...
December 17, 2018
Some Reflections on the Mission of John Allen Chau
Ed. Note: This is the second column in our series on the recent death of the American Christian missionary, John Allen Chau, who was killed attempting to evangelize the Sentinelese people of the Andaman Islands. If you haven't already, please read To...
December 13, 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
John Allen Chau’s Evangelical Errors
As a theologian who has done fieldwork in conflict zones and written on risk, my first response upon reading about John Allen Chau’s death at the hands of the Sentinelese people was anger. I do not want to squelch the anger, which seems to me to be r...
December 6, 2018
A Tribute to Professor Wendy Doniger
Ed. Note: Today’s column commemorates the scholarship, teaching, and mentorship of Wendy Doniger with a collection of tributes by several of her colleagues and students, both former and current, on the occasion of her retirement this academic year. A...