Steveawiggins
MY BLOGS
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Sects and Violence in the Ancient World
http://sawiggins.wordpress.com/
A blog that tries to find intelligent things to say about religion and related subjects.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 4658 )
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The New Neighbors
Apartment dwellers often ponder new neighbors. If anything gives the lie to being in control of your own destiny, renting your domicile does. Read more
Posted on 25 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Dreaming Reality
The problem with monsters is that they’re not easily reduced to a lowest common denominator. This becomes clear in an article about the under explored (from a... Read more
Posted on 24 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Devil of a Time
One might be excused for thinking so much about the Devil these days. Displays of lies and evil intentions are on pretty obvious display at the highest levels. Read more
Posted on 23 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Bigger Bibles
The Book of Jubilees. 1 Enoch. It’s been years since I’ve read these “apocryphal” books. I’m thinking about them today because of the concept of canon. Read more
Posted on 22 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Lunar New Years
Celebrating the New Year in the middle of winter is a strange idea, at first glance. As I have discussed before, January 1 is “Circumcision-style New Year,”... Read more
Posted on 21 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Ash Monday
I was traveling abroad with a friend. We’d just arrived back in the United States and were making our way through customs. Since he was from another country we... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Alma Mater Matter
I was a teen-age religion major. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but I did start college at 19 and, being a first generation matriculant, had no idea about... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Ode to Zibaldone
Scribbling. All it takes is a margin of an agenda paper or the back of an envelope. I don’t remember when I started doing it—I’ve been writing my own blend of... Read more
Posted on 18 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Where Arthur?
Arthur Rackham – “How at the Castle of Corbin a Maiden Bare in the Sangreal and Foretold the Achievements of Galahad,” Wikimedia CommonsWe’re all grail... Read more
Posted on 17 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Know Your Monsters
Edward J. Ingebretsen is one of the most intelligent analysts of monsters about. That may seem like a small order, but it’s not—many people write about monsters... Read more
Posted on 16 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Made of Clay
Investigating a new field, at least on an academic level, involves a little disorientation. Part of this derives from the fact that academics didn’t use to writ... Read more
Posted on 15 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Come Forth
Horror movies provide a strange consolation at times such as this. When evil has overtaken democracy, it’s almost like strategy, watching how fictional... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Animal Ways
Noah’s Ark has a way of showing up in many literary forms. Familiar to many from Genesis, it actually predates the Good Book by hundreds of years. Read more
Posted on 13 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Hidden History
History involves perspective. We sometimes forget that. I was alive when human beings first reached the moon, so maybe I’m a bit blasé about what a great... Read more
Posted on 12 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Theoretically Speaking
I’ve been brushing up on my literary theory. All writing tends to get classified as fact or fiction, and we don’t stop to think, generally, about what... Read more
Posted on 11 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
An Anatomy of Lies
I had an email from Mike Pence. Mike Pence doesn’t know me from Adam, but if he met me he surely wouldn’t like me. His email tried to explain, in tottering... Read more
Posted on 10 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
A Glimpse at the Future
Last month one of the three remaining Shakers died. In this era of religion unawareness, not many Americans, I expect, could identify this dying religion. Read more
Posted on 09 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
In Poor Taste
I remember seeing a television commercial once (not during the Super Bowl) where an older guy, a lawyer, complained at the camera, “It used to be that lawyers... Read more
Posted on 08 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
By Any Other Name
Good and evil. Well, mostly evil, actually. No, I’m not talking about Washington, DC, but about horror movies. Cynthia A. Freeland’s The Naked and the Undead:... Read more
Posted on 07 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Cheap Faith
“If I see a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the... Read more
Posted on 06 February 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY
