Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4573 )

• Reel Salvation

  

  Salvation is a fraught concept. It’s one of those topics that’s been commandeered by the evangelical camp so that mainstreamers are afraid to touch it, as if... Read more

  Posted on 11 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Samaritans, Good and Otherwise

  

  It’s the coldest day of the winter so far. I’m noticing this because I’m standing on the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike counting the NJ Transit buses that... Read more

  Posted on 10 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Wild Things

  

  Last year my wife suggested we each do a reading challenge for the year. The one we selected was Modern Mrs. Darcy’s, which, with only a dozen books, seemed... Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• What Democrats Don’t Understand

  

  Human evolution (while it still legally exists) tells us a considerable amount about belief. Brain science (while we still have it) has long indicated that our... Read more

  Posted on 08 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Size Does Matter

  

  While not exactly a Luddite, my grasp on technology is tenuous. I grew up in what may be the last generation where computer use was considered optional—I made i... Read more

  Posted on 07 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Whose Story?

  

  What really happened? I grew up thinking that reading history gave the answer to that question. In fact, it is a viewpoint that I still struggle against. Read more

  Posted on 06 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Need to Know

  It’s particularly encouraging when the first book I finish in a year is an important one. I try my best to read books that won’t disappoint, but the thing... Read more

  Posted on 05 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Possessed by Work

  

  Now that I’m safely ensconced back in the daily work routine, I spend some time thinking of the scary movies I had time to watch during my “free time. Read more

  Posted on 04 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Political Games

  

  The enigma machine held an almost impossible complexity for generating codes. It gave the Nazis a great advantage during World War II since it was beyond the... Read more

  Posted on 03 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Undiscovered Countries

  

  My friend Marvin always amuses me with what he’s got in his refrigerator. He likes to buy products that he considers appropriate to the season. On a recent visi... Read more

  Posted on 02 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• New Year’s Resistance

  

  Now that 2016 is safely behind us, it’s time to start looking ahead to a year of peaceful protest and renewed social activism. Read more

  Posted on 01 January 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 2016 in Books

  

  As is my custom on this last post of the year I’ll be revisiting the books that made an especial difference to me in 2016. I record most books I finish on... Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• We Are an Island

  

  Apropos of both building your own deity and Disney, my family went to see Moana. Now, I have to admit up front to being a bit behind on my Polynesian mythology. Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lions and Lambs

  

  This brief break between Christmas and New Year’s Day, taking into account the vacation days expended to enjoy it, is a time filled with movies, reading,... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2016 SOCIETY

• Build a God

  

  One of the more amusing gifts to find its way under my tree was a Design Your Own Deity magnetic play set. Since I have roughly only this brief holiday break fo... Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2016 RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Prejudicial Monsters

  

  Witnessing injustice is traumatic. Especially when you’ve been conditioned to believe there is nothing you can do about it. That helpless feeling crushes you... Read more

  Posted on 27 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Morning After

  

  Quite apart from seeing a live performance of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens has been on my mind a bit this Christmas season. Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Capital Carol

  

  The idea of exchanging presents on a holiday emerges from the impenetrable veil of time. We don’t know when the practice began—the idea of copying the... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Charlie Grinch

  

  There were probably about half-a-dozen animated Christmas specials I recall watching as a child. The two that became fixtures, and remain part of my present... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lap of Luxury

  

  How terribly rude. I was right in the middle of a sentence when my word processor shut down. Then my computer. A system update. It’s 4:00 a.m., the time I... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY