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 ( 4674 )
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Eureka?
It’s weird to feel yourself becoming a curmudgeon. Especially when it’s about technology. Someone asked me the other day if I could send an audio file of... Read more
Posted on 26 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
In Black
When autumn rolls around my hankering for gothic literature ratchets up. It’s really my gothic sensibilities that make me watch horror films, seeking some kind... Read more
Posted on 25 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Horse Senses
Chief was a smart horse. The horse camp instructor told us that horses sometimes distended their midsections when a rider was strapping on the billet because... Read more
Posted on 24 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Secretly
There are not too many books that I would call epiphanies. I always lay down Jeffrey Kripal’s books with a sense of wonder and awe. Read more
Posted on 23 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Being Equal
With all that’s been happening lately—as 2020 shudders along—we find ourselves at the equinox. For some of us the weather has already been unseasonably cool,... Read more
Posted on 22 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Believing and Seeing
Our eyes locked for a moment. He wasn’t ten feet away. Of course, like all famous people he knew that his fans thought they knew him and hoped that he would kno... Read more
Posted on 21 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Kind Animals
How many people could it be? That’s the question a pandemic naturally raises. Last weekend my wife and I ventured to a Vegan Festival in Easton. Read more
Posted on 20 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Large Projects
Now, where was I? I suspect it’s the same with you. We’ve got so many things going that it’s difficult to keep up with them all. Read more
Posted on 19 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Parable of the Dates
Speaking of resurrection, a news story I saw on Agade, apparently originating in the New York Times, tells of dates. The kind you eat. Read more
Posted on 18 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Index Fingers
I’ve occasionally written about how authors obsess over indices, or indexes, for their books. These days most things are looked up electronically, but this... Read more
Posted on 17 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Remaking King
Pet Sematary is (or was), according to Stephen King, his most bleak book. The first movie made from it (Mary Lambert, 1989) never reached the iconic status of... Read more
Posted on 16 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Proof in the PDF
The proofs of Nightmares with the Bible are sitting right here on this laptop. If I’ve seemed distracted, now you know why. My life is unaccountably busy for a... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Documentary
It all comes down to people and honesty. Given the bald-faced lies that come from the White House these days, honesty is at a premium. There are, however, alway... Read more
Posted on 14 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Propaganda
“[F]or the most part, thinking is inherently and irrepressibly liberal.” As much as those who’ve drunk the Trump Kool-Aid (watered down, for sure) might want... Read more
Posted on 13 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Preorder Alert
Although you can buy most anything from Amazon, the book industry is particularly under its hegemony. I have to admit that I enjoy browsing there, and often... Read more
Posted on 12 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Defining Evil
Recently someone said, in a conversation in which I was involved, that understanding evil as entirely a human construct wasn’t working for her. Read more
Posted on 11 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Bird Land
Since I like to blog about books, my usual reading practice is to stick with a book once I start it. This can be problematic for short story collections... Read more
Posted on 10 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Born to Fly
WikiTree is a web-based, free genealogy site. I’m too busy these days to do much digging, but it’s hard not to stop and consider it once in a while. Read more
Posted on 09 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Setting the Mood
I can’t recall how I learned about Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney, but it was one of those books I knew I wanted to read. One thing I do recall is that I... Read more
Posted on 08 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Laboring
I can remember when Labor Day was about honoring workers. I suppose it still is, in some circles. At the top, however, the strategy is to give all the breaks... Read more
Posted on 07 September 2020 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY
