Ever since I was first asked to offer reflections on the study of religion and the Catholic sex abuse crisis, it…
Sister Martin Ignatius explains not very much at all for you
American religion
The church, the state, and the child
The child, as the psychoanalytic theorist Adam Phillips points out, “remains our most convincing essentialism.” By this he means that at…
The curious case of Paul Richard Shanley
In the discursive regime of sexual abuse, the operative silence is the victim’s. This silence stems from shame and intimidation.…
Abusing rhetoric
Many of these documents are appalling in the way that bureaucratic recitals of torture are appalling, in the way that ledgers…
The study of American religions in Religion
In the most recent issue of Religion (subscription required), a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research in the comparative and…
What is the aesthetic of contemporary spirituality?
At Religion in American History, Michael J. Altman takes a broad look at Frequencies, citing his appreciation of individual posts,…
Experiences with evangelical congregations
In The New Yorker, Joan Acocella gives a favorable review of Tanya M. Luhrmann's When God Talks Back: Understanding the American…
Secularism and The Third Jihad
At The Revealer, Jeremy F. Walton offers insight on the recent controversy surrounding the NYPD's use of The Third Jihad…
Public sociology: rigor and relevance
Any authors would be pleased by an array of laudatory and thoughtful comments on their work, especially by a group…
American religion in the era of Fosdick’s revenge
Is bland beautiful? Almost never, most of us would say. But when it comes to religion in a diverse society,…