Steveawiggins
MY BLOGS
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Sects and Violence in the Ancient World
http://sawiggins.wordpress.com/
A blog that tries to find intelligent things to say about religion and related subjects.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 4565 )
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Read Red
Fairy tales can be pretty gnarly. I recently picked up a new translation of Grimm but I haven’t read it yet. For some time I’d been aware of Christina Henry’s... Read more
Posted on 07 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Change Management
Calendars fascinate and flummox me. When I try to convert from Julian to Gregorian, or vice versa, I get hopelessly lost. The same applies to time zones and... Read more
Posted on 06 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Old and New
Annual holiday traditions show just how deeply ritual is established in our behavior. As the holiday season rolls around we find our familiar customs to be... Read more
Posted on 05 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
After This
It didn’t rock the critics, but it is distinctly creepy. After.Life came out in 2009 and quickly fell from sight. It’s an interesting movie nevertheless. Any... Read more
Posted on 04 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Justice Hungry
Social justice is very important to me. At the same time I realize I’m just a single individual, and a small one at that. I have a little group of internet... Read more
Posted on 03 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Brooding
Horror was undergoing a serious development beginning in 1968. Into the seventies many boundaries were being crossed and new areas of fear were opened. David... Read more
Posted on 02 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
True Value
It’s a funny idea, net worth. (Who says Capitalism isn’t a religion?) We decide what people are worth by what corporate executives and small-minded economics... Read more
Posted on 01 December 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Devils and Witches
If you’re a regular reader (thank you!) you know that I’m currently under contract to write the Devil’s Advocates series volume on The Wicker Man. Read more
Posted on 30 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Standard Maintenance
Something disturbing happened the other day. My laptop started requiring constant plugging in. I figured the battery was starting to go—it is several years ol... Read more
Posted on 29 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Remarkable and Beautiful
Last year I read and commented on Hank Green’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I knew there’d be a sequel, but it took some time for it to come out in paperback... Read more
Posted on 28 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Abominable and Biblical
In many ways Holy Horror was an initial volume. The Bible is fairly prevalent in horror, and had the book done any better I might’ve considered a sequel. Take... Read more
Posted on 27 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Not Shopping
Santa Claus arrived at the end of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade yesterday. I actually began seeing Christmas paraphernalia in stores before Halloween. It... Read more
Posted on 26 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Flight Path
It’s been some time since I was on a plane. Or in a hotel. These things seem strange and foreign to me now. Covid-19 is now a fixture in life and we, as... Read more
Posted on 25 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Celts and Gods
We’re accustomed to religions being written out. Indeed, many world religions have sacred texts from the Avestas to Dianetics. Read more
Posted on 24 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Learning to Like
The shout-out is an always appreciated gesture. Among the guests on The Incarcerated Christian podcast, I’m pretty clearly the one with the smallest following. Read more
Posted on 23 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Erase This
Over the years I’ve read a fair bit about Eraserhead without having ever seen it. Approaching it I had little idea what to expect—normally classified as body... Read more
Posted on 22 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Rel Stud 101
There’s no such thing. Religious studies, that is. I first heard this a decade ago while working as religious studies editor for Routledge. My supervisor... Read more
Posted on 21 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Mag Dash
I don’t do much magazine reading. Back when I had more time (mainly before buying a house), there were a few with which I attempted to keep up. Mainly,... Read more
Posted on 20 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Global Swarming
It’s a veritable horror trope. The swarm, that is. We fear being overwhelmed by vast numbers of apparently innocuous insects or arachnids, although they are... Read more
Posted on 19 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Numbers Game
I once asked a movie expert—this must’ve been when I was regularly on a campus somewhere, but not Nashotah House—how many movies had been made. He sighed and... Read more
Posted on 18 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY
