Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4120 )

• Six Impossible Things

  

  Solipsism, as a philosophy, has its attractions. The idea behind it is that since all we can truly know is our self, the self is the only being that really... Read more

  Posted on 28 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Different Kind of Salvation

  

  It’s encouraging and disheartening all at the same time. And seldom has the evil of money been so obvious. Last night I attended an environmental panel... Read more

  Posted on 27 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• When Like Rome

  

  Among the constant topics of discussion, both in the academy and in its publishing ancillaries, is the loss of interest in religion. Read more

  Posted on 26 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Self-Convinced

  

  Like many people, I suppose that my own views are right. All people think this, I suspect, otherwise they’d change their point of view. Unless they’ve been... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Vapid

  

  The smoke encircled his head like a thief. And not in a saintly way. I was going to have to rethink this. You see, the culture of the early morning commute is... Read more

  Posted on 24 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Thunderers

  

  “Storms are the embodiment of Mother Nature’s flair for the dramatic, and the words that we use to write about them are infused with that drama,”—the words... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sustain Chapel

  

  It seems that holidays come thick and fast in the spring, especially when Earth Day follows directly on the heels of Easter. Given the hard time mother earth ha... Read more

  Posted on 22 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Rise Again

  

  Resurrection, as I argue elsewhere, is a scary thing. Since today’s Easter, at least in the western Christian world, people are—or should be—thinking about... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Look Out Below

  

  Demons are seldom what you think they are. Bernard J. Bamberger’s Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan’s Realm isn’t so much about demons as it is about, well,... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Discriminating Tests

  

  That explains it. That glow coming through the window as I got out of bed this morning is the full moon. Since this is the first full moon after the vernal... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mystic Connections

  

  Those of us who find rationalism a bit too constricting sometimes find solace in mysticism. My reading of late, which is mostly research for Nightmares with... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Aging Tech

  

  When I get an idea my first impulse is to grab an envelope and pencil and start scribbling. I run around with an older crowd. Many of my generation don’t... Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Looking Back

  

  Image credit: David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1944, via Wikimedia CommonsLike many I’m shocked and saddened by the fire at Notre Dame cathedral. Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• No Refuge

  

  A convention in histories of the horror genre is to trace it to Gothic fiction. Gothic fiction itself is traced to The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole. Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Not-Quite-Normal Religion

  

  I’ve been thinking about categories quite a lot lately. In a world connected by the internet, it seems that traditional categories don’t stretch far enough. Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Label Maker

  

  Did you ever have one of those label makers?  The kind with a rotating wheel that embossed a plastic ribbon with letters that you could stick to things?... Read more

  Posted on 13 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• If Onlyists

  

  A special brand of Fundamentalism called King James Onlyism is a particularly odd variety of faith simply because of its required backing and filling. Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• What’s Wrong with Heroes?

  

  There can be no doubt that under Trump conservative Christians have been flexing their muscles. Few things corrupt so readily as political power, and... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Seeing the Future

  

  Nine. That’s the number of people before me in line. It’s not yet 4:30 a.m., and our day began at least an hour ago, but work won’t start for another two. As th... Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• In the Inn

  

  One of those things that really bothers me is the concept of being forced out of a home. It’s never happened to me personally, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fea... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY