Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4574 )

• Ivory Towers

  

  I sometimes confuse “ivory tower” and “ivy tower.” It’s only a matter of or. In my mind the halls of academe are frequently covered with ivy, but the usual... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ark Apocalypse

  

  I get lost in the web. Although my work requires that I remain plugged in to the internet all day long, I confess to feeling lost on the weekend. I don’t know... Read more

  Posted on 06 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Foundational Books

  

  Over the weekend I visited one of my favorite used book stores, The Old Book Shop in Morristown. It’s neither huge nor fancy, but it has the feel that is so... Read more

  Posted on 05 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• As (Not) Seen on TV

  

  Last night, I fear, I did not see “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman.” Our “double play” service already rivals the cost effectiveness of a ballpark lunch,... Read more

  Posted on 04 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fossilized Views

  

  Not all Fundamentalists are the same. I grew up believing the Bible was literally true, but in my family we recognized that fossils indicated the earth was olde... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Heroic Gestures

  

  It seems like superheroes have been around forever. They are really, however, the product of comic books from the 1930s on. Adapting well to the big screen, a... Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Golem

  

  I read a lot of books. About a hundred a year. At the end of the year I go over them all again and many of them, I see, failed to make a deep impression. Some, ... Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Cthulhu’s Tea Party

  

  It was in the eldritch-sounding Oshkosh that I first came across H. P. Lovecraft. The web was still somewhat of a novelty then, and I’d run across a Dagon symbo... Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Unlearning Prejudice

  

  With the terrorist attacks in Belgium on our minds, people are asking once again, “What’s up with Fundamentalists?” My jeremiad that the only solution to... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Strange Chemistry

  

  One of the many antiquated beliefs that have been left behind over the centuries is alchemy. Today we tend to think that anyone who supposed natural substances... Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Monster Epistemologies

  

  A friend ensures that I see internet stories of hidden monsters. Not hidden in that you can’t find them, but hidden in that my freedom to explore the web entail... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Underground Easter

  

  Recently I had the opportunity to write a post for the OUP Blog on the topic of Sleepy Hollow. I’m not exactly obsessed with the program, but it fascinates me... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Not Camelot

  

  In the English imagination the Arthurian legend is deeply connected with the Christian myth of Britain’s founding. This may not be on the surface, of course, bu... Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• GF Or TGIF?

  

  For some today is Good Friday. Others are saying “TGIF!” There’s a basic disconnect that has grown between days of remembrance (okay, let’s just call them... Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Durable Goods

  

  Those who love books share a soul. A weekend never feels complete to me without at least an hour spent in a bookstore. On one such weekend a clerk in our local... Read more

  Posted on 24 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Modern Vampires

  

  Sometimes I feel guilty. A grown man reading about vampires? Then I think of such puerile things as television and the stock market over which other adults wast... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• But Loses (His) Soul

  

  Although a couple steps from the real thing, a book review can be an art form of its own.  A short piece in a recent Wired magazine focused on an ironic... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Spring Forward

  

  I have to admit that spring snuck up on me this year. Weather is, of course, no reliable predictor of the Vernal Equinox, and since I depend on the lightness... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Palms and Psalms

  

  At Nashotah House, where I spent many years of my career, it was often felt that the weather during Holy Week was, in the best of circumstances, appropriate. Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bible Use

  

  In the current presidential race, it seems, the Bible hasn’t been as large an issue as it has been in the past. Bluff, bravado, and bullying seem more the... Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY