Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4649 )

• Ghost Rider

  

  Of all frightening creatures, ghosts are by far the most ubiquitous. Believed in by every civilization ever recorded and throughout the world, not even science... Read more

  Posted on 05 October 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Secular Family Values

  

  Fear of social disruption runs deep. Things may not be perfect, but people would rather keep things the way they’re used to them being rather than to face... Read more

  Posted on 04 October 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Hurricane Joaquin

  

  The name Herostratus is deservedly obscure. In fact, I shouldn’t even be mentioning him here. His use as an object lesson, however, seems apt in a country... Read more

  Posted on 03 October 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Monster Smash

  

  It’s the time of year when young men’s minds turn to monsters. Well, at least this middle-aged man’s does. Seeing a book by Karl P. N. Shuker entitled A... Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Apostolic Succession

  

  I try, normally, to limit blog posts to one per movie (per viewing), but I’m still thinking about The Apostle, so I thought I’d share a bit more. I can’t get... Read more

  Posted on 01 October 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Meet the Neighbors

  

  I was called “moon boy” and was otherwise taunted in ways I care not to share. As a child I openly spoke about my fascination of life in space and was... Read more

  Posted on 30 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Forbidden Love

  

  Banned Book Week is upon us. In that time of year when we begin to think of spooky, scary things, the prohibition of literature naturally comes to mind. Every... Read more

  Posted on 29 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Powerful Movies

  

  Our friends were shocked. I don’t even remember the title of the movie, but they couldn’t believe we had gone to see it. Not because of the content of the... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Rutgers Presbyterian

  

  It is indeed an honor to be invited to address a church group on topics that matter. While I didn’t directly address global warming in my book, it was in my min... Read more

  Posted on 27 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pontificating

  

  I’ve been in a few New York crowds, but this one seemed on its best behavior. I was in the city later than usual since I’m giving a talk today at a friend’s... Read more

  Posted on 26 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Apostle

  

  I was teaching in a seminary when Robert Duvall’s The Apostle came out. Seeing the favorable reviews, I put it on my wish-list and somehow it never managed to... Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Boy on the Bus

  

  Commuting by bus isn’t the most efficient way to do research. While mostly I read non-fiction related to my research interests, monographs are difficult... Read more

  Posted on 24 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Spirit of Nature

  

  The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame’s children’s classic, was a book I first read during my doctoral studies. In the UK professors are likely to be able... Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pope-ulation

  

  My brother, who art near Philadelphia, recently told me that the City of Brotherly Love began towing cars from the no park zone a week before the Pope’s... Read more

  Posted on 22 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Soaring Prophets

  

  Okay, so I pulled the book off the shelf, and I feel now like I need to read it. Call it an occupational hazard. Josef F. Blumrich’s The Spaceships of Ezekiel,... Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Climate of Belief

  

  As I’ve noted before, in our culture where an individual voice is hard to hear, those without institutional affiliation are generally considered self-promoting... Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Anabaptist Higher Education

  

  There’s strength in numbers. This is a biblical concept as well as a folk saying (although it is worded differently in the Good Book). Read more

  Posted on 19 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Galileo’s Tool

  

  Early in my academic career I got into trouble not because a Harvard professor hadn’t adequately checked his data, but because I had pointed out that a Harvard... Read more

  Posted on 18 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ezekiel’s Drones

  

  Drones have become a fact of life. Our robotic future is already present as unmanned vehicles do the bidding of their remote commanders. They are our... Read more

  Posted on 17 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Doubting Dawkins

  

  A recent Guardian introspective on Richard Dawkins reminded me of the dangers of idolatry. Dawkins, an internationally known intellectual pugilist, the article... Read more

  Posted on 16 September 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY