Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4660 )

• Digging Well

  

  Having spent a good bit of the past week in waiting rooms in Ithaca, I fell to reading Tompkins Weekly, the free local community paper. Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Alien Ideas

  

  One of the iconic moments in all of cinema, known well beyond the confines of sci-fi and horror fans, is the alien bursting out of Executive Officer Kane’s... Read more

  Posted on 16 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Born Once More

  

  Every once in a while a reader, either here or on other social media, asks me what my religious beliefs are. The expected answer to such a question is the... Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bible Misunderstood

  

  Okay, so I wrote a post a couple days ago about evangelicals challenging Trump’s China tariffs because it will raise the price of Bibles. Little did I know... Read more

  Posted on 14 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Good Ground

  

  Young adult literature gives me hope. The quality, speaking for a guy who grew up in a small town with limited choices, has improved astronomically over the pas... Read more

  Posted on 13 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Decade

  

  Please pardon my being sentimental, but today marks one decade of blogging on Sects and Violence in the Ancient World. I realized, thinking this over, that I... Read more

  Posted on 12 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Trumping the Bible

  

  The media is chattering about one of the very many contradictions of evangelicals who support Trump. Since I have a foot in the world of the Bible business, I... Read more

  Posted on 11 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Job of Theodicy

  

  Most people, I suspect, don’t think about diseases until someone they know is afflicted. It’s natural enough to try to avoid thinking of the negative, and I kno... Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Naming Rainbows

  

  Living in the area around Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (ABE, in airport parlance), one can’t help but be aware that Crayola is based in the E sector. Read more

  Posted on 09 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Waiting for a Miracle

  

  A friend recently sent me a New York Times story about Marianne Williamson’s spiritual background. Before I say anything more about this I have a confession to... Read more

  Posted on 08 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Why July?

  

  The weather in July can be exhausting. I’ve always pretty much associated the Fourth of July with hot, sticky weather and this year’s holiday weekend has lived... Read more

  Posted on 07 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Joy of Techs

  

  Those of us with Luddite tendencies prefer to hide them. Tech is the ultimate good, right? You’ve got a smart phone in your pocket or purse and it contains the... Read more

  Posted on 06 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ghostly Thoughts

  

  Ghosts tend to be on my mind in the autumn. Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts, however, has been on my reading list for quite some time. Read more

  Posted on 05 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Freedom’s Price Tag

  

  Independence Day makes me feel conflicted. Jingoism seems to be an international problem, and although patriotism is deemed next to saintliness, I have my... Read more

  Posted on 04 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Abroad at Home

  

  Now that I’m back in the United States (but still traveling), I’ve been thinking about impermanence. That is to say, when you plan an international trip you lik... Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Dark Theology

  

  I’ve been struggling for several years, I expect it’s no secret, with how horror and religion relate to one another. Many think the task itself pointless, as... Read more

  Posted on 02 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Truth Or Dare

  

  I once knew a man who was what can only be called a pathological liar. I never knew when he was telling the truth. It was a disorienting experience relating to... Read more

  Posted on 01 July 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Utterly Indifferent

  

  One of the main purposes of this blog, apart from being a kind of daily tablet for my thoughts, is to demonstrate that religion continues into the age of... Read more

  Posted on 30 June 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fantasy Land

  

  As a naive kid with a solid master’s degree, I was accepted for doctoral work at Aberdeen, St Andrews, Oxford, and Cambridge. Only Edinburgh, however, was able... Read more

  Posted on 29 June 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Evolving Tales

  

  There’s nothing like a six-and-a-half hour flight to get some reading done. I’d made good progress on Kurt Vonnegut’s Galápagos before leaving for... Read more

  Posted on 28 June 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY