Steveawiggins
MY BLOGS
-
Sects and Violence in the Ancient World
http://sawiggins.wordpress.com/
A blog that tries to find intelligent things to say about religion and related subjects.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 4141 )
-
On Dasher, On Dancer
It’s a little embarrassing to admit that after having pondered religion for all of my life, I still have no clear idea what it is. Read more
Posted on 30 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Biblical New Brunswick
One of the true sadnesses of my life is that New Brunswick’s biggest institution, Rutgers University, couldn’t find a full-time place for a dreamer like me. Eve... Read more
Posted on 29 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Best Gift
Standing outside the footprint of a circular chapel next to the ancient ruins of a drinking hall in Ophir, the Orkney Islands, with friends. Read more
Posted on 28 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
No Song for Old Men
Succoth in Waukesha, Wisconsin. A pillar of the local synagogue had invited me to come to his booth with some of my seminary students to let them celebrate an... Read more
Posted on 27 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Santa Myth
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, devotes its resources on Christmas Eve to track the path of Santa Claus across not only across the... Read more
Posted on 26 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Religion of X
While I never considered myself comically deprived as a child, as an adult I have come to understand that I missed quite a bit. Read more
Posted on 24 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Evolving Instinct
Evolution has appeared as a threat to the Christian establishment ever since Charles Darwin worked out a mechanism by which it could work without God. Read more
Posted on 23 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Umbrella Apocalypse
Broken ribs and twisted, tortured limbs hanging useless under a leaden sky. It was a scene of carnage. I knew the world was supposed to end yesterday, but I... Read more
Posted on 22 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Southern Comfort
Once upon a time, long before Hurricane Katrina, the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature held their annual meeting in New Orleans. Read more
Posted on 21 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
No Year’s Eve
So the world’s supposed to end tomorrow. Again. These apocalypses have been coming thick and fast lately; it’s getting so that each end of the world is within... Read more
Posted on 20 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Merry X-Man
Comic books were hard to keep up with for a kid of limited means. Consequently, I never heard of the X-Men until the movies started coming out. Read more
Posted on 19 December 2012 COMIC BOOKS, ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Christmas Incorporated
A number of years ago I wrote a short book on holidays for children. Like most of my books, it was never published. I wrote it when I learned that good books... Read more
Posted on 18 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Faith and Freedom
Schadenfreude is not my usual response to the downfall of a religious leader—with perhaps the exception of televangelists. After all, religious leaders are... Read more
Posted on 17 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Rachel Weeping
“In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are... Read more
Posted on 16 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Bleak December
Tragedy follows on tragedy in 2012. Maybe the world really is ending this year. Not even a week after a man accidentally shot his own seven-year-old son in... Read more
Posted on 15 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
A Big Joke
On the evening table my wife left a token of hope for me to read in this hopeful season. New Jersey “Transit” claimed that the very next day riders of the... Read more
Posted on 14 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Fanpire Club
It has become an odd world indeed when thousands of people look to vampires for family values. Although I’ve not read any of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight books,... Read more
Posted on 13 December 2012 SOCIETY -
Chrismahanukwanzadan
Happy holidays from a pluralistic world! Whenever I see the “Keep Christ in Christmas” signs that crop up this time of year, I think of the wonderful profusion... Read more
Posted on 12 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Mutants, Mystics and Memory
Paradigms. These patterns of thought are self-reinforcing and very useful. As anyone who’s studied foreign languages knows, paradigms are an effective way to... Read more
Posted on 11 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Freud’s Nightmare
B movies are a guilty pleasure. Weekends sometimes allow for guilty pleasures, when I can check my mind at the door, take a seat near the screen, dim the... Read more
Posted on 10 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY