Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4650 )

• God’s Meteorologist

  

  “To understand the weather is somehow to glimpse the divine.“ I honestly don’t remember writing those words. A friend of my drew them out in a quote last year... Read more

  Posted on 20 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Life As We Knew It

  

  The government does funny things when your back is turned. Back in January, reading Scott W. Gustafson’s At the Altar of Wall Street, I learned that the... Read more

  Posted on 19 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Big Dreams

  

  The giants are back! Or at least they were here. According to the internet, and we know that that never lies. Every now and again a story breaks that some... Read more

  Posted on 18 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Silence Fright

  

  One of my first publications was a letter to the editor. The newspaper was The Scotsman, Edinburgh’s daily. We’d been hearing on the BBC that a new movie, The... Read more

  Posted on 17 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Grammar of Evil

  

  I stepped into a devil of a situation. Elevators are strange spaces. Given the choice, I’ll take the stairs any time. At work, however, as one of the many quirk... Read more

  Posted on 16 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Whole Truth

  

  In a thoughtful piece on NPR, Adam Frank discusses “Are Scientific Truths Better Than Other Truths?(.)” He describes a Ivy League conference called to discuss... Read more

  Posted on 15 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Twice Bitten

  

  I should be aware of what happens next. I’ve seen it in movies often enough. Man gets bitten by a wolf, and he turns into a werewolf at the full moon. That give... Read more

  Posted on 14 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scary Thoughts

  

  Those who know me personally—and not just through the internet—sometimes are surprised to learn that I watch horror movies. After all, I’m a pacifist,... Read more

  Posted on 13 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fictional Fact

  

  Do you remember that tragic sinking of a Staten Island ferry when a giant octopus pulled it under? Sounds vaguely familiar, but I wasn’t living near New York... Read more

  Posted on 12 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Only October

  

  Comfort may be a strange word to describe Halloween, but it is accurate. I’m no specialist on the holiday, although I’ve read a few books on it—most recently... Read more

  Posted on 11 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Love, American Style

  

  If you’re going to thump the Bible, at least try to read it once in a while! Donald Trump, showing his true colors yet again, degrades women in the crudest term... Read more

  Posted on 10 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• October Weekend

  

  Bright orange pumpkins under a cloudy gray sky. October is surely here. But this is an urban area of the kind in which northeast New Jersey specializes. As I... Read more

  Posted on 09 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Thousand Words

  

  I could easily spill a thousand words, but I have no picture. You see, as a tuition-paying parent I seldom carry cash—pin money is a luxury I just can’t... Read more

  Posted on 08 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Twist of Lime

  

  October enters as a liminal month. A few remaining hours of lingering summer but more shortening days of winter’s encroaching wolf. A time of harvest and... Read more

  Posted on 07 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Majority Report

  

  In your mind’s eye, picture American 500 years ago. What do you see? Even those of us who’ve studied history have trouble envisioning the past with so... Read more

  Posted on 06 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Science of Being Human

  

  Not so long ago, when I was still a professor, a colleague told me he had no interest in science. We studied religion, he reasoned, and science had little to... Read more

  Posted on 05 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Silverbacks

  

  It’s been decades since I’ve seen the original King Kong. A none-too-subtle racist and sexist flick it may be, but it stands as one of the original “horror”... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 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