Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4647 )

• 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

• Paging Dr. Asimov

  

  Who remembers Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots? Plastic “robots” in the boxing ring trying to knock each other’s blocks off was a form of entertainment for kids of the... Read more

  Posted on 28 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• God, Particle, Reduce

  

  Reductionism is beguiling because of the exalted status it gives to the human intellect. It is presumed that rational thought can explain everything. Read more

  Posted on 27 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Campbell’s Swansong

  

  Joseph Campbell may not be the best reading for the bus. Despite the many signs and placards gently suggesting to passengers both in the Port Authority Bus... Read more

  Posted on 26 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Dog-gone Belief

  

  A recent book I read, I can’t remember precisely which one, suggested that one reason the average citizen has trouble with science is the fault of evolution.... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fear of Religion

  

  Two online articles have, in my limited reading, linked the bombing of the Boston Marathon by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to religion. Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Almost Heaven

  

  Utopia. Sounds like a good idea—what’s not to like? There have been a number of attempts to form utopias in this sad, violent, and secular world, and although... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2013 CULTURE, HISTORY, POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Book Friends

  

  Along highway 12 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey stands an armory with an obtrusive tank stolidly facing the road. Over the weekend the tank was draped with a... Read more

  Posted on 22 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Chick Trick

  

  Yesterday was our local town’s Earth Day clean-up day. I have always thought we lived in a clean town, and generally it’s true. When you look closer, however,... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Just Books

  

  It’s very difficult to make your voice heard in this world. I’ve been talking for nearly half a century, and most of the time it’s like nobody’s listening. Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Paranormal Academy

  

  A recurrent theme on this blog (as my faithful few will doubtless know) is that religion draws from the same stream of cultural energies as do other phenomena... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Rorschach Test

  

  Rutgers University, College Avenue Campus. I recall coming out on a sweltering night once in a while during a summer term, only to find a street evangelist... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bridge Over Troubled

  

  The fundamental question of what counts as religion remains elusive. I read Robert Crawford’s What is Religion? hoping to find out. Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Loneliness of Long-Distance Runners

  

  1988. I was standing along Boylston Street, in Copley Square, watching the Boston Marathon. As the weary first place runner trudged by, I somehow neglected to... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sea Wonders

  

  There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea, if we are to believe childhood songs. News reports this past week, however, have suggested that just the opposite... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Parochial Education

  

  I’m sitting in King David’s Restaurant in Syracuse, New York. I’ve spent two days speaking with a wide diversity of religion scholars, and I’m realizing religio... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2013 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY