Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4572 )

• On Jordan’s Stormy Bank

  

  All you have to do is spit in the cup. Well, you have to do it quite a few times, but that’s the basic idea. Then you send the contents to a religiously... Read more

  Posted on 29 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Night and Day

  

  Jim was aghast. The joke had been entirely inappropriate. I had asked him about the Pentecostal service we’d just left. Jim was my college roommate and had... Read more

  Posted on 28 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Might As Well Read

  

  During my recent travels I had a layover at Sea-Tac Airport. Since I don’t get out much, I always find a walk through the airport a way of measuring what other... Read more

  Posted on 27 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Making Excuses

  

  Those of us who watch horror are often asked “why?” Many of us have a difficult time answering that question. To be sure, there are those who like thrills,... Read more

  Posted on 26 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Making Lovecraft

  

  Perhaps it’s all just coincidence, but once in a while a number of unexpected things come together. Since I do a lot of reading this often happens in the contex... Read more

  Posted on 25 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Spice of Life

  

  So it finally happened. Sean Spicer, I mean. Resigned. It must’ve been an impossible job, lying for a liar. The art of lying requires a knowledge of what’s... Read more

  Posted on 24 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• News Pause

  

  One of the benefits of “getting away from it all” is the blessed respite from news. Given the political situation these day I suppose that’s a rather risky... Read more

  Posted on 23 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fishy Business

  

  There’s bound to be a logical explanation for how it got there. After all, this is private property and people have been here all day long. Read more

  Posted on 22 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• No Place to Hyde

  

  “I was driven to reflect deeply and inveterately on that hard law of life, which lies at the root of religion and is one of the most plentiful springs of... Read more

  Posted on 21 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Berrying Perspective

  

  Two people looking at the same thing see something different. Since we’re living with a government of distorted perspective this truth appears refreshed daily. ... Read more

  Posted on 20 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Unliving

  

  Western Pennsylvania, from which I hail, has few claims to fame. One, still largely forgotten, is that it was the birthplace of the petroleum industry. Read more

  Posted on 19 July 2017 POLITICS

• Nature Watching

  

  Whenever I travel in the northwest, I keep an eye open for what one colleague calls “charismatic megafauna.” You know, the big animals that are so rare to see... Read more

  Posted on 18 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Photographic Evidence

  

  All photographs are lies. That moment preserved, formerly on celluloid but now with electrons, is gone for good as soon as the shutter is snapped. The camera... Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Devonian Dreams

  

  Toothbrush and dental pick in hand, I go at it. Not that I’m a professional, mind you, but curiosity drives me to this. You see, this crinoid before me is at... Read more

  Posted on 16 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Big Shoes

  

  Belief in the supernatural seems to be alive here in the northwest. At least if the culture at Sea-Tac Airport is anything to go by. Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Of Fancy

  

  Later today—at this time of morning the use of the word “day” feels ironic—I’ll be on a plane heading out of civilization. Well, to be more precise I’ll be... Read more

  Posted on 14 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pagan Values

  

  “Pagan” used to be a pejorative term. If we’re honest we’ll have to admit that it is still used that way by many people. All the term really denotes, however, i... Read more

  Posted on 13 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Average Reality

  

  One of the stranger dynamics of higher education is its unquestioning acceptance of a one-size-fits-all methodology. Don’t get me wrong—the empirical method... Read more

  Posted on 12 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Clean Sweep

  The other day I was reading about cleaner wrasses. These are the fish, usually in coral reef community, that establish a place of business, and other fishes... Read more

  Posted on 11 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Any Means Necessary

  

  As one of his first acts as governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie cut the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project. This was before he closed the state-run... Read more

  Posted on 10 July 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY