Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4674 )

• Impatience

  

  It’s only human nature, I suppose. We see our own circumstances and fail to appreciate how others have equally (or perhaps more) complexity to juggle. I’m... Read more

  Posted on 02 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Seeking Renewal

  

  Now that many are breathing a sigh of relief that 2020 is finally over, I stop to ponder time. Measuring time, although most forms of life do it in some way,... Read more

  Posted on 01 January 2021 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 2020 in Books

  

  As has become traditional on this blog, I like to revisit my reading for the year before the next one begins. No matter what else goes wrong, we have books. Read more

  Posted on 31 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Reading Ahead

  

  One of the highlights of the changing year, for the past five years of my life, has been the Modern Mrs. Darcy’s reading challenge. Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Yankee Doodle

  

  Some books stay with you in a way that hits very close to the nerve. Since I read Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court many years ago,... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Stay Curious

  

  Needle felting. I’d never heard of it. I’d got along some five-plus decades without knowing a thing about it. My daughter received a needle felting kit as a... Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Pre-Soul

  

  Streaming seems to be the way of the future. I’m reluctant to trust corporations (does anyone remember Ultra Violet?) keeping content I’ve paid for, but the... Read more

  Posted on 27 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Good Will

  

  Social media can seem overwhelming. There are so many sites and there’s so much to keep track of. And that’s in addition to all these “super storms” we have... Read more

  Posted on 26 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Thoughts of Christmas

  

  Christmas, in merry old England, used to be the day when bills were due. There are vestiges of that still. Just this past week, when my mind was on upcoming... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Ghost Stories

  

  Those of us who confess to watching horror are fond of noting that the Christmas season has long been associated with ghost stories. Charles Dickens wasn’t the... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Udolpho’s Mysteries

  

  The carousels on Google can provide a great deal of information. Looking at them, along with trusted lists of gothic novels, it became clear that one of the... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Wooden Translation?

  

  The summer got away from me, as it always seems to, leaving several boxes of things yet to be sorted. Since these boxes are in the garage where there’s no... Read more

  Posted on 22 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Winter Rebirth

  

  It seems like 2020 has already had many longest nights. The Trump administration has hurt so many people so badly (many of them his own supporters) that this... Read more

  Posted on 21 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Religion Prof

  

  Back in 2009, when Sects and Violence in the Ancient World started out, there was a fair bit of interest. At one point I was listed among the top fifty... Read more

  Posted on 20 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Conflict Management

  

  Conflict has come to dominate the twenty-first century in an unhealthy way. No longer do religions, political parties, or even scholars of different... Read more

  Posted on 19 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Monster Guides

  

  Reluctantly, almost begrudgingly, society seems to be accepting horror as a genre of more than cheap thrills, blood, and gore. Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Bounce Back

  

  Bounce-backs are when an author receives a rejection letter and immediately emails the publisher back. They are some of the worse ways to ensure future prospect... Read more

  Posted on 17 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Time for Golem

  

  I don’t claim to understand how the film industry works. My two books on horror and religion deal with interpreting the movies, not their native cinematic... Read more

  Posted on 16 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Home Alone

  

  Due to circumstances beyond my control (and what other kind of circumstances are there, anyway?), I recently had to spend a few days alone. Read more

  Posted on 15 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Truly Exceptional?

  

  Exceptionalism seems to be in the air these days. Most recently it’s become a plank in the Republican platform—America is God’s own chosen nation (despite what... Read more

  Posted on 14 December 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY