Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4649 )

• Molly Picture

  

  Maybe I’m getting out of practice with my horror movies—I don’t have time to watch them like I used to—but Lovely Molly left me a little confused. Read more

  Posted on 08 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ucb

  

  The Flying Spaghetti Monster came onto my radar while teaching at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. I was teaching a course entitled The Bible and Current... Read more

  Posted on 07 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Science v. Evil

  

  Can we eliminate evil? More than a question of metaphysics, this is also the title of an episode of the third season of Through the Wormhole. Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scotland the Evolved

  

  Imports and exports are the stuff of international commerce. Nations import what they require or desire from nations that have a surplus. One surplus that the... Read more

  Posted on 05 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Remember the Alamo

  

  Midtown Manhattan is awash in litter, particularly on a Monday morning, or first thing after a holiday. I generally arrive in the city shortly after 7 a.m.,... Read more

  Posted on 04 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• America’s Book

  

  One thing that would be difficult to overstate is the influence the Bible has had on America. In our increasingly secular society, it may seem like the Bible ha... Read more

  Posted on 03 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Asherah’s Ashes

  

  Academics are often poor communicators. The stunning irrelevance of most research should stand as a rather obvious clue to that. Of course, I’m old school in... Read more

  Posted on 02 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Life as We Know It

  

  A friend asked me for a book. Since my life has mostly been about books, I’m generally happy to supply what I can. This friend is a cancer survivor and wanted t... Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Secular Seminary

  

  The Nones have it. A recent article by Alana Massey from the Washington Post puts it well. We are cultural Christians living in a secular world. Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Book Ideas

  

  Call it sour grapes. When I was a young scholar, I used to wonder how to develop book ideas. You see, at a young age—twenties or thirties—even a doctorate... Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fresh Thinking

  

  Creativity receives an immense amount of lip service. Too bad that doesn’t correlate to actual appreciation. I’ve been working since I was 14. Read more

  Posted on 29 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Christian Cookie

  

  During my childhood and adolescence, we didn’t eat out. Of course, food didn’t cost nearly as much then, and it was cheaper to cook raw ingredients at home... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• O My Stars

  

  I know many conservative religious believers. I also know a lot of nones and atheists. One thing they all have in common is that they want to believe the... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scientific Voices

  

  Science requires translation. Even very intelligent people in other fields of study have trouble understanding what scientists have been saying. That’s why... Read more

  Posted on 26 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Land of Who?

  

  “Parochial” is a name we small-town types dread. Growing up with television, which gave us a magical view into New York and California, as well as other... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Peak Oil

  

  Having no control over where we’re born, people nevertheless often feel a connection with their native region. My family had no roots in western Pennsylvania,... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Finding a Vein

  

  Travel broadens the mind. I always find that it’s a form of education. Sometimes what I learn is disturbing. While driving across Pennsylvania on I-80... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Chain Gang

  

  When I first joined LinkedIn, the notes about adding connections you didn’t actually know were pretty dire.  People could trash you behind your back, ruining... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Too Much Stuff

  

  The informal name for economics, rightly, is “the dismal science.” When I recently learned about The Story of Stuff (storyofstuff.org), I found myself again... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Reveal

  

  The end of the world as we know it is far more common than reason might suggest. As I’ve been researching the way the apocalypse is represented in popular... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY