Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4659 )

• Reason to Believe

  

  Gods, the experts say, are on the way out. Have been for some time. The loudest voices in this arena are the New Atheists who suggest science alone explains... Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Contemporary Scripture

  

  Being born into a religion makes all the difference. I say this as someone who was born into a family that would now be labeled Fundamentalist. That... Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Hieroglyphs

  

  The word “hieroglyph” translates to “sacred writing.” If you’re like me, your first attempts to learn writing were probably not very sacred at all. Read more

  Posted on 12 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Not Devil’s Tower

  

  The Sourlands, apart from being the setting of Joyce Carol Oates stories, are one of New Jersey’s characteristic features. Although the Garden State brings... Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Biblical Hurricanes

  

  Say what you will about western Pennsylvania, but it was a location fairly safe from natural disasters. My hometown was too far inland for hurricanes to cause... Read more

  Posted on 10 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Way, the Truth

  

  It’s striking how similar world religions can be. Granted, the concept of “religion” as a separate sphere of life is a western one, but throughout the world... Read more

  Posted on 09 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Shocking Truth

  

  The electrician recently stopped by. We’re renters and although I don’t mind doing minor household repairs to benefit the landlord, I draw the line at... Read more

  Posted on 08 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Church of Advent

  

  It’s a common name. You might know one yourself: William Miller. Indeed, for many years of my own life I borrowed that surname from my stepfather before... Read more

  Posted on 07 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Overlooked Scripture

  

  In this great Trump Tower of capitalism in which we all live, I often wonder about the overlooked Bible. Fundamentalist Trump supporters certainly know how to... Read more

  Posted on 06 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• First Look

  

  Youth might be described in a number of ways. One, of course, is in biological years. Another may be in exposure to experiences which change your life. Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ned Ludd and Company

  

  I’m sure you’ve seen them too. Maybe in the movies, or on a newsreel, or maybe on a filmstrip in school. I’m referring to those scenes, usually in some foreign... Read more

  Posted on 04 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• By Numbers

  

  Numbers 12.3 always struck me as one of the oddest verses of the Pentateuch. This was back in the days when I’d been taught that Moses wrote Genesis through... Read more

  Posted on 03 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Oil Heritage

  

  I love optical illusions. Apart from the sheer fun of ambiguity, such illusions are really all about perspective. Shifting perspective can be one of the most... Read more

  Posted on 02 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Night of the Museum

  

  I admit to being a relative stranger to contemporary commercial television. We don’t have “triple play” at home, and since the internet provides more informatio... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Hurricane Warming

  

  Image credit: NOAA, public domain via Wikimedia CommonsMy heart goes out to those suffering from Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. Read more

  Posted on 31 August 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Planet A

  

  Two of the classics of ecology, A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, and The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson, were published by Oxford University Press. Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Birth of a Notion

  

  Childhood is an impressionable time. Our phobias begin then. Children are vulnerable. (Of course our current government is intent on making us all afraid of... Read more

  Posted on 29 August 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Noah’s Parable

  

  I write a lot about Noah. For those who didn’t know me before this blog, I was once invited to write a book on Noah for a series ironically published by Oxford... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fighting Nightmares

  

  Some things are so personal, and inexplicable, that they’re difficult to put into words. Not only that, but they often involve other people and I try not to... Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• American Caligula

  

  In the days before the American Caligula, the Trump family disgusted average Americans. I mean specifically one of those whose songs are considered essential... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY