Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 103

Why Is There Disaster not Disneyland?

The better question is “Why is there anything at all?” New blogger Ben Conroy attacks the problem in his post about English comedian Stephen Fry here. if I was arguing with Fry I might point to the fact that a universe without natural evil wouldn’t have Stephen Fry in it, because the very existence of [Read More...]

Tolkien, Tradition and Trees

Joseph Pearce has a very perceptive and interesting article here on Tolkien and Trees. He talks about Ents and Tolkien’s love of language. It’s all about roots and time and tradition and the need to be well rooted… This deep understanding of language is analogous to an understanding of history. If we want to understand [Read More...]

It’s Not Easy Being Green…

This week’s post at Aleteia explains that stewardship of the environment has been part of the church’s teaching and the pope’s agenda for some time. Benedict XVI was actually dubbed “the Green Pope” during his reign. Pope Francis’ planned encyclical on the environment will build on the work of his two predecessors. If any recent [Read More...]

Why Does God Allow Bone Cancer in Children?

Stephen Fry’s passionate condemnation of God for creating a world with children’s bone cancer, flesh eating microbes and cannibalistic serial killers brings us to ponder the nature of evil in the world. While Stephen Fry’s complaint reveals more about Stephen Fry than God, it is still a very popular complaint and a question worth asking. [Read More...]

What the Archbishop Should Have Said to Stephen Fry

English homosexual activist and public atheist Stephen Fry has stirred the hornet’s nest with some juvenile comments about God and the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a speech defending religious freedom, has propped him up. Fry was a guest on an Irish TV show when he was asked what he would say to God at the [Read More...]

Are Anglicans Catholic?

My latest article for National Catholic Register online reviews the disastrous consequences for church unity of the Anglican decision to ordain women priests and bishops. If Anglicans proudly claim to be part of the ancient Catholic Church, why have they thumbed their noses at the Eastern-Orthodox and Roman-Catholic authorities over this matter? Many Anglicans consider [Read More...]

Ten Amazing Things You Should Know About Posts About Ten Things

Did you know that those posts about Ten Amazing Things you should know are not really about the ten things?! Here are ten things you should know about posts about ten things: 1. The Website posting them sells advertising. 2. The number of readers they have is measured by page views. 3. The more page [Read More...]

Catholic Like Me

Did you know that the author of Black Like Me the classic book about race relations in America, was a convert to Catholicism? This article from today’s Daily Telegraph tells the story of John Howard Griffin, a Texan who famously tried to cross the color line in the segregated South. Griffin was an extraordinary person. His mother was [Read More...]

My Doubts About Archbishop Romero

My latest article for CRUX is posted today. It recounts my introduction to El Salvadorean Archbishop and martyr Oscar Romero. Amid the high emotion aroused by liberation theology, I was one, conservative by nature, who assumed that Oscar Romero was a Marxist. It was difficult to avoid that conclusion once he had become a poster [Read More...]

Laughing at Lucifer with Lewis

My article at Imaginative Conservative this week reminisces about C.S.Lewis’ Screwtape Letters and discusses the need to take sin seriously but to be able to mock “that proud Spirit” Satan. For conservative Christians, Lent is not only the season to do good works, but it is also a holy season to engage in battle with [Read More...]