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 ( 4660 )
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Pop Culture
Something I was reading recently made me ponder how we become acquainted with culture, particularly pop culture. I can really only speak for myself, but I... Read more
Posted on 12 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Degrees of Separation
For some reason lost in the fog of weblandia, I get The New York Times, “The Morning” delivered to my email. By carefully not clicking the links I can get my... Read more
Posted on 11 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Walking Bear
Indigenous peoples have been on my mind over the past several months. Indeed, I read books by American Indian authors with awe. Read more
Posted on 10 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Sky Dwellers
If the atmosphere’s an ocean, we’re all bottom-dwellers. Ancient peoples populated the sky above with incorporeal beings, starting with a god, or gods, at the... Read more
Posted on 09 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Everything’s a Nail
Taking my first, tentative steps into horror analysis, I had read a great many monographs on the subject. I had watched many horror films over the years, but... Read more
Posted on 08 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Ritual Time
Timeless, it is. The internet I mean. The ultimate 24/7. No matter the time, day or night, it’s always here. And that’s good because time’s about to change... Read more
Posted on 06 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Horror Week
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November,” the old rhyme goes. Earlier this week I advocated for Halloween being the start of the holiday season. Read more
Posted on 05 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Story Time
Why am I so nervous about this? I’ve done it hundreds of times. Perhaps it’s because it’s a public place in a pandemic. Maybe it’s because I’ve never used... Read more
Posted on 04 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Holiday Season
Halloween, in some ways, is the unofficial kick-off of the holiday season. This was made clear to me when someone recently played the song “Soul Cake” in the... Read more
Posted on 03 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
What’s Poppin’?
“How are things in the world of finance?” Admiral Boom calls to a passing George Banks. The bland answer of fine as everything is good with the pound sterling... Read more
Posted on 02 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Horror Show
The horror film history narrative runs something like this: although there had been some scary movies in the silent era, the term “horror” was first used to... Read more
Posted on 01 November 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Spirit of Halloween
So it’s Halloween. It’s also Sunday. I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the spirituality of this particular day. Now it’s often treated as a trick, a... Read more
Posted on 31 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Angel of Harvest
It’s been a few weeks ago now, but one October Saturday we attended the Lehigh Valley Vegstock. Autumn is the season for harvest festivals and a surprising... Read more
Posted on 30 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Author Talks
are one of my favorite perks. While work obligations mean I often can’t attend, I was glad to have caught this week’s visit by Mathias Clasen. Read more
Posted on 29 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Not Quite Quetzalcoatl
It must be difficult to write the same basic story over and over. And nostalgic adults like me can be tough critics as we try to recapture faded childhood... Read more
Posted on 28 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Feeling Used
It may be perverse of me, but it makes me happy that used copies of all my books can be found on Bookfinder.com. I discovered Bookfinder many years ago and it i... Read more
Posted on 27 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
In Praise of Paper Maps
One of the tricks, I’ve mentioned before, for getting around accessing books I can’t afford, is the used book market. Now Amazon is probably just about as bad... Read more
Posted on 26 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Listening to History
One thing fascists around the world are attempting to do is rewrite history. Inevitably white, they want to paint themselves as good and superior. Read more
Posted on 25 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
A Day with Books
. Is there any better kind of day? Before I lapse into poetry I want to put in one more plug for the Easton Book Festival. Today is the last day for this... Read more
Posted on 24 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Skin In
It took me back to my younger years. Tanya Krzywinska’s A Skin for Dancing In: Possession, Witchcraft and Voodoo in Film. Wide ranging and insightful, this... Read more
Posted on 23 October 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY
