Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4649 )

• Just Justice

  

  It was not intentionally because it was Martin Luther King Junior’s alma mater that I chose to attend Boston University School of Theology. Read more

  Posted on 19 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Divergency

  

  Self-denial, no matter what its motivation, is a religious ideal. In its more extreme forms it becomes martyrdom, but most religions agree on the value of takin... Read more

  Posted on 18 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Maine Event

  

  We have no control over where we’re born. Place, however, has a sacred significance. Many people have a sense of where they belong. Life may be a prolonged... Read more

  Posted on 17 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Last Word

  

  The end of the world, it seems, never goes out of fashion. My wife shared a story on the BBC about CNN (such self-referential media hype may be a sign that... Read more

  Posted on 16 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Holy Food

  

  One of the undisputed benefits of working for a publisher of a wide variety of academic books is the opportunity to learn about different topics that might... Read more

  Posted on 15 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bodily Futures

  

  Just about everyone I know has their own method of curing the hiccups (or, in their more evocative spelling, hiccoughs). Most of these involve holding one’s... Read more

  Posted on 14 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• News Work

  

  I’m confused. (Well, no surprises there.) I just read the cover story in last week’s Newsweek, “The Bible: So Misunderstood it’s a Sin,” by Kurt Eichenwald.... Read more

  Posted on 13 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Maritime Dreams

  

  Early in my teaching career, I used to arrive in Milwaukee on a train after midnight. A student from Nashotah House on work-study would pick me up at the train... Read more

  Posted on 12 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Worn Out Religion

  

  Truth claims are integral to religions. No one would join a religion not declaring itself to be true. Some months ago, I posted about the store True Religion... Read more

  Posted on 11 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Truth Anonymous

  

  Many a student has been spared the reading of primary sources by study guides. This is not a new phenomenon. While still regularly teaching Hebrew Bible, I... Read more

  Posted on 10 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Monster Map

  

  Monsters are becoming more mainstream. Or at least it seems that the ridicule factor, with which I had to deal as a child, has moderated a bit. A friend recentl... Read more

  Posted on 09 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Charlie Hebdo

  

  With the tragic news coming out of Paris, a predictable set of recriminations are about to begin. Because of the actions of some extremists, “religion” will be... Read more

  Posted on 08 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Harpy New Year

  

  A grueling early morning commute is seldom enhanced by complaining. I suspect most of us would rather not be here, crowded next to strangers on a barely adequat... Read more

  Posted on 07 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Commandments by Committee

  

  Something about the holiday season seems to bring out atheistic activism, or at least media interest in atheism. Now that we’re safely in 2015, I suspect... Read more

  Posted on 06 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Biggest Buy

  

  It isn’t really that much of a specialty item. You see, we live in an older apartment and three-pronged outlets were mostly reserved for kitchens the last time... Read more

  Posted on 05 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Grin and Bear It

  

  The dentist’s chair is about the last place I’d like to spend my Saturdays, but given my work schedule there are few alternatives. Read more

  Posted on 04 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Like a Virgin

  

  Having more than two days in a row when I could be both home and awake, led to some premature spring cleaning over the last few days. Read more

  Posted on 03 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Land’s End

  

  Although not due for release for another two years, the internet is already buzzing about Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Thing is, once a studio finds a... Read more

  Posted on 02 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 2015

  

  New Year’s Day seemed to me, as a child, an odd choice for a holiday. We’d just had Christmas a week before. Of course, at the time I did not realize that the... Read more

  Posted on 01 January 2015 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Book Ends

  

  It’s the end of another year of reading. Since Goodreads keeps track of my booklist, I see by their accounting I finished 95 books in 2014. Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY