Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4647 )

• 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

• Super Stition

  

  Elijah is a folkloric character. Despite the common misperception, most of us who study religion know the difference between myth and reality. There are,... Read more

  Posted on 03 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Playing Nicaea

  

  Some professors are more creative than mine ever were. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Even today “old school” means getting it done the arduous,... Read more

  Posted on 02 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Suit Yourself

  

  I guess I’m going to have to sue myself. In this litigious society I have few options left. Instead of understanding and forgiveness (some of the positive... Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sacred Herstory

  

  Have you ever read a book thinking the author was a woman, but later learned that it was written by a man? Or vice-versa? This creates a disturbing kind of... Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Scholar Universe

  

  One of the resources that editors use to find scholars of obscure fields of study is a website called Scholar Universe. Now, before you all rush to the site... Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Science of G-d

  

  Where, exactly, do science and religion come together? Since both are human mental enterprises, they must at some point at least glance off one another. Read more

  Posted on 29 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SCIENCE, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• To Obey the Scout Law

  

  Society’s prurient interests have been on display again with the intense media blitz concerning Boy Scouts of America and the fraught issue of sexual... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Girls Rising

  

  While I was home watching Bruce Almighty, my wife was attending a local screening of the documentary Girl Rising. (There was a good reason for this... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2013 CULTURE, RELIGION, SOCIETY, WOMEN'S ISSUES

• God Has Left the Theater

  

  When teaching religion at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, I realized that an effective way to engage students was through popular culture. Read more

  Posted on 26 May 2013 RELIGION

• Witching Fiction

  

  Literary fiction is a rich trove of religious thinking. Consuming fiction sustains the soul as well as the mind. Sheri Holman’s Witches on the Road Tonight was... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Iconic Book

  

  A recent Associated Press story celebrated the achievement of Phillip Patterson. In an age when we just can’t get enough technology, when we live with, sleep... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY