Steveawiggins
MY BLOGS
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Sects and Violence in the Ancient World
http://sawiggins.wordpress.com/
A blog that tries to find intelligent things to say about religion and related subjects.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 4117 )
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Self-Convinced
Like many people, I suppose that my own views are right. All people think this, I suspect, otherwise they’d change their point of view. Unless they’ve been... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Vapid
The smoke encircled his head like a thief. And not in a saintly way. I was going to have to rethink this. You see, the culture of the early morning commute is... Read more
Posted on 24 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Thunderers
“Storms are the embodiment of Mother Nature’s flair for the dramatic, and the words that we use to write about them are infused with that drama,”—the words... Read more
Posted on 23 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Sustain Chapel
It seems that holidays come thick and fast in the spring, especially when Earth Day follows directly on the heels of Easter. Given the hard time mother earth ha... Read more
Posted on 22 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Rise Again
Resurrection, as I argue elsewhere, is a scary thing. Since today’s Easter, at least in the western Christian world, people are—or should be—thinking about... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Look Out Below
Demons are seldom what you think they are. Bernard J. Bamberger’s Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan’s Realm isn’t so much about demons as it is about, well,... Read more
Posted on 20 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Discriminating Tests
That explains it. That glow coming through the window as I got out of bed this morning is the full moon. Since this is the first full moon after the vernal... Read more
Posted on 19 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Mystic Connections
Those of us who find rationalism a bit too constricting sometimes find solace in mysticism. My reading of late, which is mostly research for Nightmares with... Read more
Posted on 18 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Aging Tech
When I get an idea my first impulse is to grab an envelope and pencil and start scribbling. I run around with an older crowd. Many of my generation don’t... Read more
Posted on 17 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Looking Back
Image credit: David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1944, via Wikimedia CommonsLike many I’m shocked and saddened by the fire at Notre Dame cathedral. Read more
Posted on 16 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
No Refuge
A convention in histories of the horror genre is to trace it to Gothic fiction. Gothic fiction itself is traced to The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole. Read more
Posted on 15 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Not-Quite-Normal Religion
I’ve been thinking about categories quite a lot lately. In a world connected by the internet, it seems that traditional categories don’t stretch far enough. Read more
Posted on 14 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Label Maker
Did you ever have one of those label makers? The kind with a rotating wheel that embossed a plastic ribbon with letters that you could stick to things?... Read more
Posted on 13 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
If Onlyists
A special brand of Fundamentalism called King James Onlyism is a particularly odd variety of faith simply because of its required backing and filling. Read more
Posted on 12 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
What’s Wrong with Heroes?
There can be no doubt that under Trump conservative Christians have been flexing their muscles. Few things corrupt so readily as political power, and... Read more
Posted on 11 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Seeing the Future
Nine. That’s the number of people before me in line. It’s not yet 4:30 a.m., and our day began at least an hour ago, but work won’t start for another two. As th... Read more
Posted on 10 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
In the Inn
One of those things that really bothers me is the concept of being forced out of a home. It’s never happened to me personally, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fea... Read more
Posted on 09 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Which Shaman?
It’s a strange kind of vindication when you see someone argue your ideas independently. Even if they understand those ideas in a different way. Read more
Posted on 08 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Punch Bug
There’s no other reason for buying a Volkswagen Beetle than making a statement. We bought ours in 2003, before they got squashed. Read more
Posted on 07 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Science of Compassion
It has been several years now since I’ve been directly (or indirectly) involved in robotics. During my daughter’s high school years I was active in the FIRST... Read more
Posted on 06 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY