Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4522 )

• Holding out for a Hero

  

  Over at Religion Link, a story about superheroes and spirituality was posted recently. I guess it should’ve been clearer to me as a child with his head in the... Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Evolving Morals

  

  CNN recently interviewed Frans de Waal about his new book, The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism among the Primates. Of course the book immediately... Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Is Golden

  

  When I grew up I sometimes thought I’d join a monastery. It’s a funny idea since I’m not Catholic and I am happily married. I think what appealed to me most... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Running to Stand Still

  

  “You have faith, Professor Barnhardt?” Klaatu asks the scientist in the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. Barnhardt demurs, stating that curiosity is what... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Crab Walking

  

  445 million years may seem like a long time. For the horseshoe crab, however, the eons have been spans of years with little change from a rather simple existenc... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Tell-Tale Hearts

  

  As a sometime dabbler in the fictional arts, I was intrigued by Jonathan Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make us Human. Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2013 CULTURE

• Happy Mother’s Day

  

  Women’s voices raised in prayer. What could be the objection to that? Religion, of course. A story from the Los Angeles Times reports that chaos broke out in... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Down Will Come Baby

  

  Princeton Theological Seminary is a school with a history. Unofficially allied with my alma mater, Edinburgh University, PTS is one of the powerhouses for... Read more

  Posted on 11 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Four “R”s

  

  Last week the Chronicle of Higher Education feted Eboo Patel. As someone who has been on the receiving end of subtle religious violence, I appreciate what... Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bing Spring

  

  Binghamton University is, like most institutions of higher education, home to many rituals. Back around a century ago, anthropologists were convinced that... Read more

  Posted on 09 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• When in Rome

  

  Most biblical scholars know that the synoptic Gospels began to take their rough shape around 70 C.E. Many middle school children have heard stories of the... Read more

  Posted on 08 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Duck and Cover

  

  Although it is the twenty-first century, I’ve never had cable television. From my youngest days watching muddy black-and-white that sometimes revolved in a... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2013 ENTERTAINMENT, TV & VIDEO

• Fracking Insane

  

  Do yourself a favor. Watch this video:I have spent most of my lifetime living the fantasy of the helpless victim. Raised in a faith that insisted I really... Read more

  Posted on 06 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lovecraft in the Woods

  

  You know the basic plot: five college students—always an uneven mix of genders—travel to a remote cabin in the woods during a break. Extreme bloodshed ensues.... Read more

  Posted on 05 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Heavy Metal

  

  “I drive my car, it is a witness. My license plate, it states my business.” Only the hardcore may be able to place this quote from Daniel Amos’s impressive... Read more

  Posted on 04 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• More Witches

  

  It’s been some time since I’ve been to Salem. It’s been even longer since I’ve read Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The events of 1692, however, continue to... Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Backyard Wisdom

  

  From where I was sitting, the robin appeared to be asleep. It was an overcast and chilly spring morning, so I had to admit that I was a little envious. Read more

  Posted on 02 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Shaman Shifting

  

  I confess that I haven’t read Confessions of an Economic Hitman. Being incurably drawn to the weird, however, I picked up a copy of John Perkins’ earlier book,... Read more

  Posted on 01 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Neither Black nor White

  

  What hath Rome to do with Lagos? In the portion of the newspaper where religion is freely discussed—the Sunday edition, of course—Jeff Kunerth published a... Read more

  Posted on 30 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ancient of Days

  

  I’ve never been one to deny my age. I think of myself as a rather young 50 since my brain still reacts like an 18-year old’s much of the time. Read more

  Posted on 29 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY