Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4565 )

• Love Letter

  

  One of the more insidious things about religions is their claim to exclusivity. The belief than any religion is the “only true religion” is bound to run up... Read more

  Posted on 27 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ghosts Again

  

  In keeping with my holiday ghost interest, I read John Kachuba’s Ghosthunters: On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirt Seekers, and Other Investigators of... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Twilight on Christmas

  

  We have too many ornaments for the single Christmas tree we can afford.  There are few reasons for this.  One is that I married into a family with Christmas... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Salvation by the Book

  

  Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on UnsplashI’ve never been to Iceland.  Part of me says that if I ever get to go I’d want it to be on Christmas Eve.  Ah, the light... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Literary Thoughts

  

  A book is a physical object.  It is printed on paper and has a cover.  It has a publisher who undertakes to have it printed and bound (and with any luck,... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Another Article

  

  Some insecure people feel the compulsion, but really don’t know why.  Speaking strictly for this insecure person it’s because (I think) I’ve been ignored most o... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• At Last, Yule

  

  It all depends on how you look at it.  Today is either the longest night or the beginning of the return of the light.  It’s the winter solstice, that time that... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Rats

  

  Small town living had its benefits but one of them wasn’t seeing movies.  In the seventies, before the local mall came in, there were scattered movie theaters... Read more

  Posted on 20 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Not Really Nervous

  

  Embarrassment is a not uncommon reaction. People who knew me as a religion professor or who now know me as a volunteer leader in my local congregation wonder wh... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Masking Identity

  

  Who am I, really?  Identity has been on my mind quite a bit during this pandemic.  With millions dying I suppose it’s important that “the officials” know who... Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ghosts and Puritans

  

  One of the victims of capitalism is the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas time.  We tend to relegate such downers to Halloween.  Christmas is a... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Thinking Big

  

  Depending on who you are the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies (BICS) may set your eyeballs to rolling.  You might know that extremely wealthy Robert... Read more

  Posted on 16 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Human Agency

  

  Goodreads Choice Awards elected John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed as the Best Nonfiction for 2021. It’s easy to see why. Green has long been known both as... Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Riddle

  

  It’s an age-old question: how many Ph.D.s does it take to screw in a lightbulb?  I haven’t figured it out yet, so if you have the solution please let me know... Read more

  Posted on 14 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Christmas Classic

  

  While it’s a story I know well, I’d never read the book. I suppose I tend to think of Christmas when it’s already hard upon me, or perhaps I’m just making... Read more

  Posted on 13 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Great Resignation

  

  Although many people my age are retired, I’m looking at a couple more decades of work at least.  A large part of this is because I specialized in a field I... Read more

  Posted on 12 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sects and Violence

  

  Important books often suffer because of poor distribution. There are really only five publishers in English (“the big five”) that can reliably get their books... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Myth of Ownership

  

  “Luddite” doesn’t really describe me.  I don’t have a problem with technology, but I often object to how its used.  Let me give an example or two. Read more

  Posted on 10 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Behind Science

  

  Science and religion have been sparring partners for a few centuries now, and I believe this is a generational conflict.  The child, science, arguing with the... Read more

  Posted on 09 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mining for History

  

  An article by Matti Friedman in this month’s Smithsonian got me to thinking about the Bible’s iconic status again. Titled “An Archaeological Dig Reignites the... Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY