Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4121 )

• Christianity Sans Christ

  

  Pieter Breughel the elder“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (Please pardon the sexist translation, but the King James is in... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Like a River

  

  It still gives me the creeps, to be honest. Although a myth, well, let’s not dignify it with that noble term—although an urban legend, the origin of the “peace... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Tempestuous Wind

  

  There was quite a windstorm that blew through here yesterday. It reminded me rather forcefully of Weathering the Psalms. Firstly, it blew loudly enough to wake... Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sixes and Sevens

  

  Few eras conjure mental images as readily as the sixties. As the first decade of my life, I idealize them a bit, I suppose. I wasn’t old enough to appreciate th... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Edifices

  

  In a process that’s been going on for decades, church buildings have been sold and repurposed. Part of the reason is the fact that spirituality has come to... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Green Eyes

  

  All of us fall prey to the green-eyed monster once in a while. For an editor like me, it starts lurking when I see others make content production look so easy b... Read more

  Posted on 23 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Friends with the Devil

  

  The Pine Barrens of New Jersey strike the first-time visitor as eerily odd, even today. Stunted trees grow from sandy soil, crowded close together and growing... Read more

  Posted on 22 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Qaulity Education

  

  Perhaps it’s from having a stubbornly blue collar, but snobbery has never appealed to me. While in seminary at Boston University, I applied for a transfer to... Read more

  Posted on 21 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Lore of the Folk

  

  Once in a great while you read a book that has the potential to shift paradigms. The unusual and provocative Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and... Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Yes Or No

  

  Reading about demonic possession is enough to scare you away from ever using a ouija board. In fact, I’ve never played with one; growing up my strict religion... Read more

  Posted on 19 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Type Right

  

  Image credit: Rama, via Wikimedia CommonsI’ve mentioned before on this blog that I’d like to get a typewriter. An old one, without electric capacity. Clacking... Read more

  Posted on 18 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Caveat Emptor

  

  When you work in academic publishing, various higher education news sources find you. Not able to distinguish faculty from industry professionals that rely on... Read more

  Posted on 17 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Internet of Happiness

  

  Are we really happier for instantaneous news? Has the internet brought us paroxysms of ecstasy with the quality of information? Wouldn’t you just rather wait?... Read more

  Posted on 16 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Remembrance

  

  When reading C. S. Lewis’ Surprised by Joy, a number of things stood out in high relief. One of them was his statement that the early years of autobiographies... Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Love, Not Fear

  

  How do we celebrate Valentine’s Day when our governments advocate hate? You have to wonder when the autocrats last fell in love. Building entire polities on... Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Weaponized Scripture

  

  One of the many questions that haunt evangelical Christians is whether it is okay to watch horror films or not. The same applies to whether it’s okay to listen... Read more

  Posted on 13 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Goliath and Company

  

  First UltraViolet. Then Google +. Well, actually neither of these was first—tech initiatives cease to exist all the time. Giants aren’t immune to extinction,... Read more

  Posted on 12 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Servants and Such

  At Nashotah House I met my first real-life servant. This was a student—a candidate for the priesthood—who’d formally been a “domestic. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Terror Text

  

  Dystopia reading and/or watching may be more practical than it seems. History often reveals authors who may be accused of pessimism more as prophets than mere... Read more

  Posted on 10 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Nature’s Bible

  

  When you’re writing a book, many strands in your mind are weaving their way into what you hope will be whole cloth. Well, at least if you write books the way... Read more

  Posted on 09 February 2019 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY