Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4650 )

• God’s Rain

  

  Photo credit: Micahmedia, Wikimedia CommonsWashington Postan articleThose of us who indulge in creative writing know that poetry is perhaps the only place... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mother Earth

  

  Behold thy mother.As a planet-locked earthling, I’m thinking about Earth today. Such a quotidian planet. While I’ve been to others in my mind, this is the only... Read more

  Posted on 22 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Meaningful Fear

  

  Reading about the things that wrong, like terrorist attacks, may not be the best way to occupy your time on a bus heading to New York City. Robert Wuthnow’s Be... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Prayer Before Meals

  

  It was in Wisconsin. Oshkosh. I was teaching for a year in a replacement position, and my roster of classes at the university covered several aspects of... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Biblical Stories

  

  The Bible had quite a week last week. It went from being vetoed as the “state book” of Tennessee to making it onto the list of the ten most challenged and banne... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Gods and Giants

  

  Coming back to a book you first read as a tween, in the days before tweens even existed, can be a revelation. Lester del Rey’s Day of the Giants introduced me t... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Le Sacrifice Humain

  

  The thought of lying tied to an altar while you know someone is about to murder you is a terrifying one. For several reasons. Clearly, you don’t want to die. Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• What Vampires Abhor

  

  It began as an innocent trip to the grocery store. I was in the produce section seeking the various vegetarian foodstuffs I need to make it through the week whe... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Long Distance Commute

  

  What should my next book be? This is the perpetual question of the long-distance commuter for whom electronic devices are mere distractions. Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• States Slights

  

  States, at least the united kind, can have personalities. Some of us move after the diminishing herd of jobs and so end up in places we hadn’t really planned... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Rainbow Nation

  

  By now I suppose it’s old news that North Carolina has joined the wall of ignominy as the latest state to try to discriminate against gays. Read more

  Posted on 13 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Taking God to Bed

  

  There are varieties of evangelical experience. It is so convenient to put people into neatly labeled boxes that we tend to forget religious experience can be... Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Resurrecting Color

  

  If you’re one of those people who’s attached to books, you know the frustration of someone who borrows a book and never gives it back. Many years ago I stopped... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Psychics Anonymous

  

  New York is a city that is fascinated with itself. To me it’s kind of like rooting for a professional sports team. The members of the team come from all over th... Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Or Just Sleeping?

  

  Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of God. The Time magazine cover, the first to be text only, asking “Is God Dead?” was one of the iconic images of... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Philosophical Neanderthal

  

  Extinction. It’s a depression concept, but one that nevertheless constitutes a reality in evolution’s world. When applied to members of our own species we term... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2016 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 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