Table of Contents
Editor's Note xi
Foreword Willemien Otten xiii
Introduction: Reflections on Sightings W. Clark Gilpin 1
1 Counting Martin E. Marty 5
2 America's Mythical Religious Past Catherine A. Brekus 7
3 Mourning a Monsignor Martin E. Marty 9
4 Pearl Harbor, Sarajevo, and the Events of September Eleventh Edward McGlynn Gaffney Jr. 11
5 An Extraordinary Discussion Jean Bethke Elshtain 13
6 Of Patriots and Saints Jonathan Ebel 16
7 "The Women" Are Everywhere Amy Hollywood 19
8 Of Troubled Hearts Christopher Beem 22
9 A Letter from Jerusalem: Christmas 2002 Ithamar Gruenwald 24
10 Ryan's Commute Martin E. Marty 26
11 Milton, Mass., Mary Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez 28
12 Cracking The Da Vinci Code Margaret M. Mitchell 30
13 Remembering Martin Luther King Martin E. Marty 33
14 Tru-Envy? Jon Pahl 35
15 Supreme Court Theology Brian Britt 37
16 Greeley's War Martin E. Marty 40
17 The Theodicy of Everyday Life Martin E. Marty 42
18 The World House Robert M. Franklin 44
19 Collisions and Doubts Martin E. Marty 46
20 Billy Graham's Final Crusade James L. Evans 48
21 Black Theology and Womanist Theology in Conversation Dwight N. Hopkins 51
22 Multiple Choices from the Founders Martin E. Marty 54
23 Buddhists on the Brain Dan Arnold 56
24 The Future of New Orleans James B. Bennett 59
25 The Changing Faces of Islam Malika Zeghal 62
26 Reflections on Chicago's Cloud Gate Jeremy Biles 65
27 Intelligent Watches Richard A. Rosengarten 68
28 Sanctuary or Spectacle? Cynthia Gano Lindner 70
29 Allah's Trailblazer R. Jonathan Moore 73
30 Watch Your Language Martin E. Marty 76
31 On the Migration of Religious Ideas W. Clark Gilpin 78
32 Religion and Redemption in Black Snake Moan Kristen Tobey 80
33 Mother Teresa's Agony Martin E. Marty 82
34 The Economist on Religion Martin E. Marty 84
35 Baptism by Torture William Schweiker 86
36 How to Bury a Prophet Kathleen Flake 88
37 E Pluribus Obama M. Cooper Harriss 90
38 God and Man at Yale Eboo Patel 93
39 On Trust Martin E. Marty 96
40 News from the Religion and Science Front Douglas Anderson 98
41 An Inner Life with New Meaning Krista Tippett 101
42 Economics Martin E. Marty 103
43 Back to the Twelfth Century: Peter the Venerable and Pope Benedict XVI Lucy K. Pick 105
44 Religion-Based Arguments in Juvenile Life without Parole Cases Joan Gottschall 108
45 The Sacred and the Sartorial by Courtney Wilder 111
46 Jim Wallis on Morals and Values Martin E. Marty 113
47 Keeping on the Sunny Side: Southern Traditionalism's Bid for Academic Respectability and Tolerance John Howell 115
48 Cuts in the Humanities by Martin E. Marty 118
49 The Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iraq Shatha Almutawa 120
50 Franklin Graham on Islam and Violence Martin E. Marty 122
51 The Shtetl Strongman Sarah Imhoff 124
52 Good Sufi, Bad Muslims Omid Safi 126
53 The Chinese House Church Goes Public Fenggang Yang 130
54 Shrine Destruction in Bahrain Michael Sells 133
55 Machine Gun Preacher Martin E. Marty 137
56 Commonweal's "Bishops and Religious Liberty" Martin E. Marty 139
57 Adiaphora Seth Perry 141
58 A Jewish Classic for Muslims James T. Robinson 144
59 The Swift Rise and Apparent Demise of "Jesus' Wife" Trevor W. Thompson David C. Kneip 147
60 Divorce's Toll Martin E. Marty 149
61 Christian Pop Martin E. Marty 151
62 Strange Bedfellows Scapegoat Russia's Gays Bryce E. Rich 153
63 The Doniger Affair: Freedom of Scholarly Inquiry Takes an Ominous Turn in India Sunit Singh 156
64 Phone versus Online Honesty Martin E. Marty 159
65 Ferguson Martin E. Marty 161
66 How Not to Understand ISIS Alireza Doostdar 164
67 Plastic Religious Art: Playful to Some, Offensive to Others Spencer Dew 170
68 #JeSuisCharlie: Blasphemy in Hinduism and Censorship in India Wendy Doniger 173
69 After the Charlie Hebdo Massacre: Islam Must Open Itself to Critique Jean-Luc Marion 177
70 A Reply to Jean-Luc Marion's "After Charlie Hebdo, Islam Must Critique Itself" Bruce Lincoln Anthony C. Yu 180
71 Another Take on "After Charlie Hebdo, Islam Must Critique Itself" Matthew Kapstein 183
72 Rifts in the Mormon Family: What Just Happened? Grant Hardy 187
73 Historic Paris Climate Agreement Reflects Years of Advocacy Religious People Sarah E. Fredericks 191
74 Southern Baptists Martin E. Marty 195
75 Easter's Deus ex Machina Jeff Jay 197
76 The Last Trump? Roger Griffin 200
77 Children on Christian or Secular Swings Martin E. Marty 204
78 How Waiting 108 Years Makes the Good Life Holly Swyers 206
79 An Event to Celebrate Peter J. Paris 208
80 In Defense of the Liberal in the Study of Religion Jeffrey Stackert 210
81 Many Sightings of Hope Martin E. Marty 213
82 Dylann Roof, the Radicalization of the Alt-Right, and Ritualized Racial Violence Joel A. Brown 216
83 Myths Debunked: Why Did White Evangelical Christians Vote for Trump? Myriam Renaud 220
84 Rock, Paper, Scissors Sarah Hammerschlag 226
85 Sacred Sites Violated Martin E. Marty 229
86 The Church Militant Martin E. Marty 232
87 The Time Has Passed Emily D. Crews 234
88 Alien Citizens Martin E. Marty 238
89 Look for the Jews Erika Tritle 240
90 Being Hip-Hop, Being Job, and Being Julian "J.Kwest" DeShazier 243
91 The Meaning of Religious Exemptions Franklin I. Gamwell 246
92 Taking the Unitarian Universalist Diversity Crisis Seriously Martin E. Marty 249
93 The Hidden Roots of Betsy DeVos's Educational Policies Willemien Otten 251
94 Rev. Dr. William Barber and the Sound of Transcendence Braxton D. Shelley 255
95 Euthanasia, Dignity, and "Spirituality Lite" Martin E. Marty 258
96 Love Your Enemies: Moral Absurdity or Genius? Audrey D. Thompson 260
97 Closings Martin E. Marty 263
98 Visiting a Fellow Human at the Benedictine Monastery Alan Levinovitz 265
99 Historical Justice in an Era of #MeToo: Legacies of John Howard Yoder Rachel Waltner Goossen 268
100 Jerusalem Paul Mendes-Flohr 272
Index of Contributors 275
Index of Subjects 276
