Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4573 )

• Buying Faith

  

  Can belief be quantified? Apparently yes. I’ve spent my life trying to avoid the dismal science, yet it seems that everyone else is pretty much agreed that mone... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Dead Sea, Live See

  

  Nothing fascinates quite like the Dead Sea Scrolls. That is, unless you’re a disgruntled Ugaritologist. Mention the Dead Sea Scrolls and the journalists will... Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Two Thoughts

  

  I recently read that efforts are underway, by some parties, to teach Arabic to Israelis. My limited experience of Israel led me to believe that most people... Read more

  Posted on 01 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bad Theology

  

  Perhaps the most overused simile for a real mess is that it’s “like a train wreck.” No doubt this is because train wrecks are messy, and deadly. Read more

  Posted on 30 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• What Did You Say?

  

  This driver and this passenger had interacted before. Unpleasantly. You could feel the tension mount when the passenger watched carefully to see who the driver... Read more

  Posted on 29 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Godnapped

  

  “Has anybody seen my god?” So we might imagine an ancient victim of godnapping wailing after a hostile takeover raid. We might smirk to ourselves, knowing that... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Colorful States

  

  Kevin Smith is one of New Jersey’s own. I’ve always considered it one of life’s great ironies that Loki and Bartleby, the fallen angels in Dogma, move from... Read more

  Posted on 27 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Banned Books

  

  I feel short-changed. Cheated, if you will. This is Banned Book Week, and a story in Publishers Weekly over the summer touted the benefits of the local... Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Dusty Return

  

  The fiction author who had the most influence over my formative years was Ray Bradbury. Wait—let me qualify that a bit. I read of number of series aimed at... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Thinking About Feeling

  

  There’s a scene in Shrek where Lord Farquaad tells Princess Fiona “You don’t have to waste good manners on the ogre. It’s not like it has feelings. Read more

  Posted on 24 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Finding Your Way

  

  Once while visiting the house of a friend, we took a walk in the woods. It was an area I didn’t know and after a few minutes it became clear that we were lost. Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• On Practicalities

  

  In a world where a metaphorical ton of money may be made by corralling electrons into specific shapes on an LCD screen, it may be easy to think of learning... Read more

  Posted on 22 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Religion Code

  

  People have strange ideas about what religion can and cannot do. Yes, many religions face the past—founders of various sorts gave dictates and statutes that wer... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scary Pictures

  

  Throughout its history, until quite recently, one of the most serious natural enemies to the horror movie was the religious establishment. Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Enter the Labyrinth

  

  Trying not to think too much about Children of the Corn, I visited a corn maze over the weekend. This particular autumnal activity highlights just how much... Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Read Long and Prosper

  

  “Live long and prosper,” Mr. Spock was (or will be, depending) known for saying. Many of us know the regimen for healthy living: don’t overindulge on the food... Read more

  Posted on 18 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• My Fellow Americans

  

  It’s important to keep the old gods happy. By now everyone probably knows that Stephen King composed a tweet suggesting that Donald Trump was Cthulhu. Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Reflecting Ourselves

  

  There once was an old man from New Hampshire. No, this isn’t a limerick. He was famous enough to get his face on the state quarter, back when they were doing... Read more

  Posted on 16 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Hi Ho, Hi Ho

  

  I’ve been writing about reading. No surprises there, I suppose. My wife recently introduced me to BookRiot, and I wish I had more time to spend there. Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lingering Memories

  

  Visiting northwest Pennsylvania always makes me think of oil. I suppose the fact that I attended high school in Oil City has something to do with the fact. Read more

  Posted on 14 September 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY