Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4571 )

• Of Our Being

  

  It happens every year. What with my commute schedule and personal disposition, I read a lot. This blog and Goodreads are my accounting system for keeping track... Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Spectral Parable

  

  1692. The Enlightenment is reaching toward full swing. In what will become blue Massachusetts, women are condemned for being witches. Read more

  Posted on 12 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Frankenfear

  

  While re-reading Frankenstein the uncomfortable thought kept recurring that our tendency to save lives leads to undiscovered fears. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Hey Jude

  

  Reading Jude the Obscure was, at times, like reading my own biography. Authors strive for that effect, to be sure, but Thomas Hardy hits close to home on this... Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Apologizing for Whatever

  

  Maybe you’ve felt it too. The insecurity of liking something other people don’t. Having grown up an Evangelical, I had to try to explain myself at multiple... Read more

  Posted on 09 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Exiting Amityville

  

  Okay, I confess. I watched Amityville 3-D. One of the standard features of horror, you see, is the sequel. As a rule the members of the franchise degenerate... Read more

  Posted on 08 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Creating Science

  

  Religion and science. Cats and dogs. We’re used to hearing these two just can’t get along. High profile scientists sometimes denounce religion tout court, and... Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Title-less

  

  I’ve been offering a few teasers about my forthcoming book. One of the reasons for not making an announcement is that the title hasn’t been settled yet. It’s... Read more

  Posted on 06 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Winter Blossoms

  

  Audur Ava Olafsdottir is a remarkable novelist. Iceland, of course, is held to be the most literate country in the world. I began reading Icelandic fiction of... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Becoming Biblical

  

  The average reader has difficulty sorting out what’s biblical or not. For example, when Cyrus Scofield began putting 4004 BC [sic] as the date of creation in hi... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Parks and Wreck

  

  It was a bit of a shock to see Bethel Park on the list. I make no bones about being a Democrat. I’ve supported progressive causes on an evolving journey since... Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Frankenstein and Co.

  

  Authors, I expect, don’t anticipate that their work will be annotated. Since I deal with annotated Bibles on a daily basis, I often ponder that the anonymous... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• My Bee’s Keeper

  

  I’m not proud of it. In fact, truth be told, I tear up a little bit when I think about it. It happened so long ago, but it was a casual act of violence that mad... Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Concept

  

  Pardon me for being perplexed in public. You see, things aren’t as clear cut as they used to be. In the world in which I grew up Evangelicalism was good and... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Emulating Icarus

  

  According to a story by Sarah Kaplan in the Washington Post, NASA is preparing to send a probe closer to the sun than any human-made object has been before. Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Good News Shipping

  

  “And all the ships at sea,” was the closing of Walter Winchell’s radio broadcast introduction. The phrase has a certain poignancy about it—a cross between... Read more

  Posted on 29 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Heal and Farewell

  

  What could Aimee Semple McPherson have in common with the devious Russian monk Rasputin? Apart from being contemporaries for a couple decades, they were both... Read more

  Posted on 28 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Breakfast of Champions

  

  In my efforts to become vegan, I’m finding dairy to be the hardest element to replace. I’m reminded of this every morning since the day begins with cereal. Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Christian Sister

  

  Difficult to believe as it may be, some of the biggest superstars in America’s history have been clergy. The case has been firmly made that George Whitefield,... Read more

  Posted on 26 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fool’s Paradise

  

  What with all the Bible-trumping going on these days among the desiccated religions right, I thought it might be helpful to turn back to the Good Book itself. Read more

  Posted on 25 January 2018 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY