Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4648 )

• Bible Stories

  

  Say what you will about it, but the Bible has some great stories. Based on classical measures of what makes a good tale, the Bible ranks up there with Greek... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• A Lot of Salem

  

  Vampires may seem out of place late in December, but they never really go out of season. That will be my excuse, anyway, for writing about Stephen King’s... Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mother’s Night

  

  It wouldn’t be Christmas, in the Christian tradition, without Mary. Still, apart from her later enhanced role in Roman Catholicism, Mary’s part beyond... Read more

  Posted on 27 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Are You Fey?

  

  ‘Tis is the time of year that one might make inquiry into elves and the wee folk without being thought too strange. Santa has his cadre of mythic diminutive... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lords a’Leaping

  

  As I’m writing a not insubstantial check for the rent, as I do every 25th, I am participating in a Christmas ritual. Having grown up with trees, presents,... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Angels We Have Seen on High

  

  Humans have always ascribed significance to what they see in the sky. Evolution, I suspect, has a great deal to do with it, but so does religion. Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Weather for the Birds

  

  As Christmas nears so does a warm front, dashing hopes of a white Christmas in New Jersey. Well, at least there are no tornadoes coming. The weather, as my... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• X-mas Time

  

  As predictable as crocuses in early spring are the controversies that crop up around holiday billboards. Even living in the quite blue state of New Jersey, I se... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• When Darkness Reigns

  

  I recently read an article about the Druids. The fact is, historically speaking, we know little of them. They are mysterious and silent and irrevocably linked i... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• M Is for Mary

  

  While pre-celebrating Christmas with some friends recently, the topic of cats came up. This really isn’t surprising since two of the families present had been... Read more

  Posted on 20 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Moral Animals

  

  For all of my life that I can remember, I have felt an affinity with animals. Even when I was relentlessly taught that evolution was wrong—Satanic even—I still... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Foundation and Empire

  

  In a childhood full of science fiction I’m sure I read much material that was too sophisticated for me. After all, I grew up in a working-class family where... Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Overcoming Justice

  

  In college a friend I’ve lost track of (and I have, of most of them) turned me on to Irish protest music. I do have some fairly direct Irish heritage, although ... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Weathering the Storm

  

  I had almost forgotten the validation of being published. Colleagues sometimes ask me if I’m still working on any books without realizing that employment in... Read more

  Posted on 16 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Real Devotion

  

  Easter Island instantly brings up images of massive statuary and mystery. From childhood (and that will likely continue for some time due to Night at the Museum... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Not Your Grandma’s Moses

  

  Exodus: Gods and Kings is, in many ways, a startling movie. It didn’t leave me with a strong impression of profundity, but it did make me a bit reflective. Read more

  Posted on 14 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Exobiology

  

  Are we alone in the universe? The answer is every day growing more and more certain that we are not. Humanity may experience shortages of many things, however,... Read more

  Posted on 13 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• And With Thy Spirit

  

  I grew up with pets. In a house with three boys, an aging mother, and no husband, my mother seemed to know instinctively that animals were a way to engage... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Behind the Exodus

  

  Over this past week two of my friends/colleagues were quoted in major media outlets about Exodus: Gods and Kings. Being merely a blogger with nearly two... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Entitlement

  

  As winter begins to settle in, I recall reading Barry Lopez’s masterful Arctic Dreams many years ago. That book left such an impression that when I saw his The... Read more

  Posted on 10 December 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY