Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4576 )

• Something Lost

  

  “Losing my religion,” I learned some time ago, means “going crazy” in some regions. It was that REM song that made me look it up. Losing My Religion, by... Read more

  Posted on 02 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• To Whom It May Concern

  

  Everything we do is an investment in the future. Some times it’s intentional, and other times it’s purely accidental. My wife sent me a CNN story about what... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Buying the Kingdom

  

  Who doesn’t admire the presidential wannabe who can take a personal hit without flinching? We are, after all, a nation of tough-minded individualists who think... Read more

  Posted on 31 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Dog in a Manger

  

  I’m easily amused. I suppose I never outgrew that sophomoric fascination with the little things that seem like big jokes. The other day, for instance, I was... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Interstices

  

  College move-in weekend can be a stressful time. In our particular case it means crossing a couple of state lines and staying in a hotel. Read more

  Posted on 29 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Fall

  

  “Herr, es ist Zeit. Der Sommer war sehr gross,” go the opening words of Rainer Maria Rilke’s 1902 poem, “Herbsttag.” Autumn day. “Lord,” one might feebly... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Teaching Vampires

  

  What do you get when you cross German literature, psychology, and the undead? The Vampire Lectures, of course. Laurence A. Rickels, one gets the feeling, must b... Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Monumental Time

  

  One of my nieces works on the 10,000-year clock (aka Clock of the Long Now). I’ve written about the project before—the object is to build a clock that will run ... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• More Blessed to Give

  

  Religions, we are told, are in violent opposition. There’s no denying that sometimes it’s true. It is a sad commentary on belief structures when one way of... Read more

  Posted on 25 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Time in a Museum

  

  Over the weekend we visited the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania. I became aware of the museum during one of my steampunk phases, and... Read more

  Posted on 24 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Eternal Huckleberries

  

  It began as a quest for immortality. Sometimes, however, you don’t recognize something even when it’s all around you. As an historian of religion, the quest... Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Clerk and Dagger

  

  Photo credit: Luis García (Zaqarbal),, Wikimedia CommonsThese signed evolved with time. By the Middle Ages the asterisk and the dagger could be used to... Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• When Under Rome

  

  A question that has no answer: who was Jesus of Nazareth? Well, no single answer, anyway. When Reza Aslan’s Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth... Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Somewhere, Out There

  

  With Pope Francis’s impending visit, the New York-Philadelphia corridor is abuzz with discussions of traffic and commuting disruptions. Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Brains and Selves

  

  The Tell-Tale Brain is an ambitious, yet humble attempt to find the self. V. S. Ramachandran is a neuroscientist with considerable psychology experience who is... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Being Sheepish

  

  Being among the animals at the fair, you begin to notice things that are foreign to those of us with exposure only to the house-pet variety of fellow creatures. Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Charity

  

  On occasion someone will comment, either here or on my other popular writings, that I lack the objectivity of a journalist. This should be no surprise, really,... Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• All’s Fair

  

  The county fair is an institution that tastes like a real slice of Americana. My family’s been involved with our 4-H Fair for several years now. Read more

  Posted on 16 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Go Down, Moses

  

  For a time, I tried to write down family tradition. My family was somewhat unusual in that regard. Family saying came generally from my maternal... Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Shooting Stars

  

  One of the professions I used to consider as a child, before I had any real concept of the way the world works, was a scientist. Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY