Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4576 )

• Public Knowledge

  

  Sometimes the media gets it wrong. If one were to believe in the tales of industry prognosticators, our libraries would be closing, we’d all own Kindles, MOOCs... Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Love the Sinner

  

  Nashotah House, in the many years I taught there, was very saintocentric. Our daily lives revolved around Saints’ Days, many of whom I’d never heard. Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Addam’s Evve

  

  Dystopias can be optimistic. I just finished reading Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam, and came away from it strangely at peace. The third of its eponymous trilogy,... Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Under Who?

  

  Who is God anyway? The question occurred to me as I read about the current Superior Court decision in New Jersey that “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance... Read more

  Posted on 12 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Jedi Night

  

  It all began with that trailer. You know, the teaser for the new Star Wars movie. I was among those many small-town boys crowding into theaters in 1977 to have... Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• High and Dry

  

  Although I frequently, and unapologetically, express my opinions on this blog, I try not to reveal too much about myself. The books we read, however, are... Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sporting Chance

  

  I didn’t watch the SuperBowl last weekend. In fact, I haven’t had television service for over two decades now. I don’t really miss it too much since I don’t hav... Read more

  Posted on 09 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• They Might Be

  

  Last week I mentioned that a letter-writing friend had sent me two articles from the 1868 Prescott Journal newspaper. Some time ago I did some research into... Read more

  Posted on 08 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Psalms of Lament

  

  Fate can be decidedly cruel sometimes.  Accidental discoveries can be the most painful of all.  As my regular readers know, I wrote a book on the Psalms... Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Duck Overboard!

  

  I remember the moment precisely. I was in Santa Barbara, California on a campus visit for Routledge. I stopped into the university bookstore to see which of... Read more

  Posted on 06 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ancient History

  

  In the white heat of rhetoric, my word processor froze up. I don’t have much time for writing with my commuting schedule, so the full forty-five minutes lost... Read more

  Posted on 05 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Thor’s Return

  

  Once as I sat in the office of an Ivy League professor of Greek religion, I asked about the myths of the Classical gods. The professor (who knew that I had... Read more

  Posted on 04 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• In Honor of the Fifty-year Anniversary of the Release of ...

  

  In honor of the fifty-year anniversary of the release of Dr. Strangelove this past week, my wife and I sat down to rewatch the movie this weekend. Read more

  Posted on 03 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Good, Evil, and Normal

  

  To date I’ve read a fair number of Neil Gaiman novels. One of my students started me out on American Gods and I pursued his others on my own after that. I was... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• White Carrots

  

  Acronyms are useful in a complex world, although they are frequently opaque to outsiders. Taking a new job you’re found constantly swimming in an alphabet soup... Read more

  Posted on 01 February 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• What If?

  

  A game that parenting books used to recommend was called “What if?”. It was an imagination game played by parents with their children to teach them about... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Holy Trilogy

  

  Alumni magazines, thinly disguised appeals for money that they are, seldom merit much time. This doesn’t stop me, in any case, from sending notices of my new... Read more

  Posted on 30 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Get Me Jesus on the Line

  

  The letter is the greatest casualty of the internet. I sometimes obsess about how little time people put into their emails, often coming across as gruff or... Read more

  Posted on 29 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Star Struck

  

  One of the coveted symbols of approval in my childhood was the star at the top of a paper. I watched in amazement (perhaps because they were so rare) when a... Read more

  Posted on 28 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Skynet

  

  Of cultural innovations, none rivals the internet. Engulfing the world in its wide web, the constant availability of signal has changed everything. In the past... Read more

  Posted on 27 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY