Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4576 )

• Honest to Good

  

  The oldest standing building in Oxford is the Saxon era church tower of St. Michael at the North Gate. Dating from around 1040, it still stands, providing... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Almost Purgatory

  

  Although it is difficult to tell from 32,000 feet, I think I might have flown over Purgatory on my way home from the UK. The two days I was in Oxford were... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Strange Days

  

  The flight from London to New York is eight hours. Although I always travel with books, sometimes the selection made before the actual reality of time on a plan... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Colorful Gods

  

  On my last day in Oxford I had enough free time to visit the Ashmolean Museum. The Ashmolean is the earliest public museum in the country, and, although it isn’... Read more

  Posted on 13 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Dis-Connected

  

  One of the more bemusing academic exercises is the analysis of the working class. Sometimes sociologists or scholars of religion take it upon themselves to... Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Oxford Haunts

  

  When I travel, when I have time to plan, I like to visit the haunts of literary figures. It would be difficult to think of two more influential (or... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Paper Oxford

  

  It looks like a brilliant blue morning here in Oxford, yet my body is telling me that it’s the middle of the night. And that’s saying something, since I normall... Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Accept Cookies

  

  You have probably noticed it. As expected as the warmer days of spring are also the Girl Scout cookies. A symbol of wholesome fundraising, Girl Scout cookies... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• United We Fly

  

  I’m on a flight from New York to London. This wasn’t a trip I particularly wanted to take (what business trip ever is?). I don’t like flying, and changing time... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pop Goes the Bible

  

  In keeping with a theme, I followed up The Bible in Film—The Bible and Film with The Bible in/and Popular Culture, edited by Philip Culbertson and Elaine M.... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• New Faiths

  

  Scientology is never far from controversy. In the light of the new HBO documentary on Scientology by Alex Gibney (with New Jersey roots) the Star-Ledger ran a... Read more

  Posted on 06 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Happy Disruption

  

  Last night’s full moon shone brightly, announcing the grounding of the date of Easter, obviously associated with Passover. Unless one has a natural sense of... Read more

  Posted on 05 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Slice of Pi

  

  Raster images are made of pixels. MP3 files fit into neat little squares. Who owns a watch with an obsolete dial anymore? We live in the digital age. We are... Read more

  Posted on 04 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Out There…

  

  Spring is a time of hope. As crocuses poke their heads through the slowly yielding soil, we’re reminded that the long months of darkness are only temporary afte... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Film’s the Thing

  

  In the context of teaching, I often described how movies portrayed the Bible. There is an aspect of this that may go overlooked since the Bible is, in the nices... Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ice Church

  

  Eternity is a concept closely associated with religious thought. It bears a freight that phrases such as “steady-state universe” and “Big Bang” lack. Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Final Final Frontier?

  

  Over the past several months my wife and I have been making our way through the Stars. Not really Trekkies or Jediists, we both came of age during the early day... Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Unconventional Resurrection

  

  With talk of resurrection in the air, it seems natural to turn to zombies. In this internet age the monster of choice seems to change from day to day, but... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Middle Eastern Idol

  

  As the Passover-Easter complex of holidays approaches, our stern, scientific face turns toward the more human sensibilities of religion and its impact on our... Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• To See the Sky

  

  Stonehenge. The very name evokes mystery and myth. Although archaeology has revealed more about the monument than any mere visual survey, we are still very... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY