Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4578 )

• Z War to End

  

  World War Z is playing in theaters and I haven’t even had time to stock up on water and canned goods. Zombies are everywhere. And we can’t say that we didn’t se... Read more

  Posted on 23 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• It’s All Gonna

  

  When I first got married, I was distressed to learn that my wife was an organ donor. Still fresh from seminary, I had yet to outgrown the theological willies... Read more

  Posted on 22 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Time in a Bottle

  

  On of the intangible tangibles of my humble job is seeing a book move from an idea to a published product. A little bit of joy rained down on my day yesterday a... Read more

  Posted on 21 June 2013 BOOKS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Holy Hostage

  

  A chance glimpse at a textbook shelf in a university bookstore made me aware of Malachi Martin’s Hostage to the Devil, although it is several years old. Read more

  Posted on 20 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sleepy Jean

  

  Last week in the Chronicle of Higher Education, an article by Cristina Richie entitled “The Scandal of the (Female) Evangelical Mind” appeared. Read more

  Posted on 19 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• The Weather in Kansas

  

  In a move that threatens intellectual whiplash, the Kansas State Board of Education has backed the Next Generation Science Standards. Read more

  Posted on 18 June 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY

• Supergod

  

  This weekend the most-seen UFO in the skies was the Man of Steel. I didn’t see the new Superman movie, partly because, I suppose, of my own inadequacy issues. Read more

  Posted on 17 June 2013 RELIGION

• Lower Education

  

  Many people have asked me, as a former professor, why universities are so expensive. Ironically, many of these people are in flourishing businesses where the... Read more

  Posted on 16 June 2013 POLITICS, SCHOOLING, SOCIETY

• Whatever Happened to Whimsy?

  

  American Gothic is one of my favorite paintings. I’ve never seen the original, and I know of no other paintings that Grant Wood produced, although I’m sure ther... Read more

  Posted on 15 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sweet Morality

  

  When I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as a child, I had never heard of Roald Dahl. Although I enjoyed the movie, it was never a favorite. Like any ki... Read more

  Posted on 14 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sacred Gaze

  

  Rupert Sheldrake raises the ire of some of his fellow scientists. Science has increasingly allied itself with a strict kind of materialism, although, as... Read more

  Posted on 13 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• First World Religion

  

  H. P. Lovecraft’s contemporary, and sometimes inspiration, Algernon Blackwood has recently come to my attention. Like Lovecraft, Blackwood was an early... Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Religion, Generally

  

  Attempting to keep this blog focused on religion, has, of course, relegated it to the hopelessly outmoded pile for many people. Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Monsters Incorporated

  

  Monsters. What’s not to like? With a title so innocuous and limited US marketing, this 2010 British indie film only just came to my attention. I hadn’t even... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Continental Religion

  

  In the course of my duties as an editor of religious studies, I was pondering the origins of the world’s major religions. Now, agreeing on what the major... Read more

  Posted on 09 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• California Weeping

  

  Once again, we as a nation are left to mourn. Gun violence against the young seems, according to the posturing of the NRA, to be a legitimate diversion. I... Read more

  Posted on 08 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mr. Hubbard’s Legacy

  

  As a child just discovering the joys of reading in the early 1970s, I found science fiction captivating. We were poor, and our town had no library, so I’d buy m... Read more

  Posted on 07 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Horseshoes and Hand-grenades

  

  When possible, I like to follow up on events I mention on this blog. A few weeks back I mentioned the plight of the horseshoe crab and red knot, the bird specie... Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Going In, Coming Out

  

  Being primates, perhaps it is no surprise that we are fascinated by who is doing whom. We, literally, by nature, find sexual alliances fascinating. Read more

  Posted on 05 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Curing Fundamentally

  

  Despite the many problems with Richard Dawkins’ religious reasoning, he correctly notes that children are religious because they are taught to be. Read more

  Posted on 04 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY