Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4522 )

• Freud’s Nightmare

  

  B movies are a guilty pleasure. Weekends sometimes allow for guilty pleasures, when I can check my mind at the door, take a seat near the screen, dim the... Read more

  Posted on 10 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Accidental Abortion

  

  There comes a time in life when you realize that if a small town you know makes it into the news headlines, it is likely tragic. Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Read Ban

  

  Someone in the Greenville County Library doesn’t get out much. The LA Times reported this week that a surprised parent got a look at Alan Moore’s Neonomicon, a... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2012 BOOKS

• Spirituality Sampler

  

  Sometimes you read a book and wonder if somehow the author got into your head and fished around for material. Although I’m not Jewish, at least not that I know... Read more

  Posted on 07 December 2012 RELIGION

• Jolly Saint Nicholas

  

  Each December the Princeton University Chapel Choir performs a free holiday concert in the impressive university cathedral (actually, it is a chapel, but given... Read more

  Posted on 06 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Rock Hard Cafe

  

  At first glance it may not appear to be much. A small chunk of rock, probably limestone. Hardly large enough to be used in a sling against a giant in a pinch.... Read more

  Posted on 05 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Old Lies

  

  Much of my exposure to literature has come through my daughter. I didn’t really grow up in a literary family. We had a prominent television and not much money... Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2012 BOOKS, CULTURE, POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Seeking Sava Savanovic

  

  According to the Associated Press, Sava Savanovic seems to have risen from the grave again. In the world of professional vampirologists, I am a mere hack, but... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Last December

  

  December 2012—it is supposedly the last month in the world. Yesterday did dawn with the date being 1212012, but since the local tree farm opened its gates... Read more

  Posted on 02 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Saving Sin

  

  Although it makes little sense, I have always tended toward a monastic outlook. When I see something I want my first impulse is not to get it. I will sometimes... Read more

  Posted on 01 December 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bible-Landia

  

  It takes a mighty powerful stimulus to get the media to pay attention to biblical scholars. It is no surprise, therefore, when the Society of Biblical Literatur... Read more

  Posted on 30 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Creature Feature

  

  Gregory L. Reece’s Creatures of the Night is a strangely profound book. I picked it up to read on the plane home from Chicago and I wasn’t disappointed. Read more

  Posted on 29 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Theology of the Apes

  

  “Alter what you believe to be the course of the future by slaughtering two innocents, or rather three now that one of them is pregnant? Herod tried that and... Read more

  Posted on 28 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ruby Tuesday

  

  If you’re reading this, you survived Cyber Monday. Not that I personally remember the Middle Ages—I have no desire to return to them—but there was a time when... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Au Fait in the Manger?

  

  On Friday CNN ran a story about the Pope’s new book “debunking” myths surrounding Christmas. The headline certainly looked intriguing, but it turns out that... Read more

  Posted on 26 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Phantom Prayers

  

  Religion and theater have much in common. I suspect that this is one reason several religious traditions initially protested against the secular theater. Read more

  Posted on 25 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Prayers in Space

  

  Science with heart. That’s one way to characterize Mary Roach’s writing. Uninhibited is another. I began reading her books when I saw Spook on the science... Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2012 BOOKS, RELIGION, SCIENCE

• Hallowed Be Thy Kane

  

  Watching the alien burst from Kane’s distended abdomen as he appeared to have eaten too much seemed somehow appropriate on Thanksgiving. Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2012 ENVIRONMENT

• Holy Gobblers

  

  I wonder if this is how religions get started. Yesterday President Obama continued the lighthearted tradition of pardoning two turkeys prior to Thanksgiving. Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2012 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Gonad Make Disciples

  

  The funny thing about authority is that when it counts those who have it are often afraid to use it. So yesterday the “mother church” (if that honorific still... Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2012 HISTORY, POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY