Steveawiggins
MY BLOGS
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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 ( 4647 )
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In Saecula Saeculorum
“The Hebrew Bible is a misreading waiting to happen.” Jacques Berlinerblau’s The Secular Bible is a book containing much wisdom. Read more
Posted on 22 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Devil Made
Some things you just don’t mess with. Just in case. For a variety of reasons, not least of which is lack of biblical support, many Christians no longer believe... Read more
Posted on 21 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Eleventh Hour
Religion, as many a charlatan knows, makes a very good investment. History has demonstrated time and again that the confident huckster can easily siphon the... Read more
Posted on 20 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Flash Freeze
One industry has, in this era of leisure, proven itself powerfully recession-proof. Entertainment, conceived broadly enough to include the sellers of strong... Read more
Posted on 19 January 2014 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Shipwrecked
Childhood dies in pieces. There is nothing a young boy desires more than a father to show him how to negotiate life. As Mick Jagger eloquently declared, however... Read more
Posted on 18 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Holy Ghost
On a family trip to Cape May, New Jersey, some years back, a ghost tour caught my eye. My daughter was old enough not to be unduly scared, and appropriately... Read more
Posted on 17 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Dagon Cthulhu
Cthulhu has taken over the world, thanks to the internet. I wonder what H. P. Lovecraft thinks as he lies dead, but dreaming under the loam of Providence. Read more
Posted on 16 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Blessed Art Thou?
“Con man” derives from the disparaging use of the term “confidence man,” as applied to those whose promised deliverables never appear, if they ever existed at... Read more
Posted on 15 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Shadowy Futures
A thoughtful, if prescient commentary by Andy Crouch in this week’s Time magazine takes us into the uncanny valley. Despite the boastful protestations of the... Read more
Posted on 14 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
“Let not many of you,” wrote the wise James, in a widely ignored admonition, “become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” The same coul... Read more
Posted on 13 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Best Nowledge
Back in the day when paper books ruled, New York City used to be known as the publishing capital of the country. Even though many publishers still call New... Read more
Posted on 12 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Of Cuckoos and Kings
Having a life-long phobia of mental institutions, I shy away from situations that refuse to make sense. Some have attributed this to my having had an alcoholic... Read more
Posted on 11 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Loving Haiti
Few religions are as routinely maligned as Vodou. I have to admit that my own interest was originally spurred in an uncouth manner—a combination of Live and... Read more
Posted on 10 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Religious Education
The elephant in the room is exposed in a New York Times op-ed piece last week. “Indoctrinating Religious Warriors,” by Charles M. Read more
Posted on 09 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
2013 in Books
According to goodreads.com, I read 83 books in 2013. The beginning of a new year seems a good time to assess what is memorable among the reading material of... Read more
Posted on 08 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Lead Serve
For never having been a Catholic, my life has been strangely tied to the Roman Catholic Church. Like many in my diminishing profession, I was raised in a... Read more
Posted on 07 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Ethics of Swallowing
Mary Roach never fails to please. I first discovered her during a jaunt to my local, lamented Borders (not a weekend passes when I don’t mourn the chain’s... Read more
Posted on 06 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Utterly Ineffable
Sitting in an office full of Bibles, I feel well equipped for an apocalypse. At times, however, the irony of editing Bibles is almost overwhelming. Read more
Posted on 05 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
An Odyssey
I learned of Jorge Luis Borges through the recommendation of a friend some years back. Of course, knowing about a writer is never quite the same thing as readin... Read more
Posted on 04 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Sail Away With Me
Fascination with Noah’s ark is never-ending. It represents the salvation of life in the face of deadly catastrophe, the concern of the divine for humanity, and... Read more
Posted on 03 January 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY
