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 ( 4391 )
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Dusk’s Early Dark
It may be the strangest vampire movie ever, and that’s saying something. To understand this, you have to realize that I read as little as possible about a... Read more
Posted on 24 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Worse Seed
Not too long ago I watched The Bad Seed. In the 1950s it probably wasn’t considered horror, but it is quite a scary movie. I’d classify it as horror—not all... Read more
Posted on 23 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Old Movies
Something strange is happening. (“How’s that new?” you might well ask.) There seems to be a bifurcation taking place in my brain, what techies might call... Read more
Posted on 22 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Light Shadows
I often do things backwards. It’s not really intensional. You see, I’m busy with my day job and something most people may not realize is that researching and... Read more
Posted on 21 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Getting By
There are some books, such as Trina Paulus’s Hope for the Flowers, or Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, that are inherently hopeful an... Read more
Posted on 20 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Poe Day
Perhaps best known for his rabidly racist The Birth of a Nation, D. W. Griffith was nevertheless influential in early filmmaking. I’m fascinated by how... Read more
Posted on 19 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Steering
I’ve always been self-critical. Often when someone points out something I’ve done wrong I’ve already figured out that I’ve made the mistake and the reminder is... Read more
Posted on 18 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Old Dracula
Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of the “old movies” about which I posted some time back. I’ve seen it at least a couple of times, and I wrot... Read more
Posted on 17 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Reading Unwritten
There’s a style of writing—I’m not sure what it’s called—where an author keeps revealing new, and necessary information on nearly every page. Read more
Posted on 16 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Burn Out
The Los Angeles fires are terrifying. In my case, I can’t help but think of the Peshtigo, Wisconsin fire of 1871. I read two books about it, the first... Read more
Posted on 15 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Upstate
Unrequited love is sometimes tragic. Other times it’s merely sad. People are attracted to places. Or at least the idea of places. I was born in Pennsylvania... Read more
Posted on 14 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Car Talk
Body horror isn’t my favorite sub-genre, but Titane (French for titanium) had been recommended in several places. Body horror directed by women takes on a... Read more
Posted on 13 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Measuring Books
You know how some email servers stock your inbox with ads? I almost never pay attention to them. Then one for Books by the Foot showed up. I had to click. Read more
Posted on 12 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Meanwhile, on Earth
Low budget doesn’t always translate to cinematic disaster, but in The Crater Lake Monster, it unfortunately does. I have a soft spot for those who attempt to... Read more
Posted on 11 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Steve Or Stephanie
I know gender is a construct, and all. I even put my pronouns (he, him, his) on my work email signature. I haven’t bothered on my personal email account... Read more
Posted on 10 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Re-untold
In retrospect, Universal’s Dark Universe, itself a shadowy concept, could have been a thing. With the budget behind it, Dracula Untold could’ve been spectacular. Read more
Posted on 09 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Finding Vampires
Parents always dread when their child will ask them the inevitable question: where do vampires come from? A number of people have undertaken to answer that... Read more
Posted on 08 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Scary Things
I recently set myself the challenge to come up with the scariest movies I’ve seen, up to 1979. The date is the publication date (I think) of Stephen King’s... Read more
Posted on 07 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
LA Story
David Lynch movies aren’t always easy to understand. Last year we watched Twin Peaks, including the movie Fire Walk with Me. Some time before that I’d watched... Read more
Posted on 06 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Finding a Spot
Sometimes you’re not born among your tribe. I live where I’ve moved out of economic necessity, not where my family’s located. My family’s not quite sure what... Read more
Posted on 05 January 2025 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY