Dwight Longenecker's Blog, page 51

How to Become an American Emperor

I should say right up front that I am a conservative. I vote, and I can’t imagine voting for a progressive, a leftist, a socialist or any kind of liberal. However, my fellow conservatives should read history, be aware and understand that, while it is right to be suspicious of any king of a left wing [Read More...]

The Angel and The Girl

My latest article at Aleteia continues my series Angels of Advent  This week the angel is Gabriel, who appeared to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation The unique truth of Christianity is that God reveals himself as Love. This love, St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, is the energy force that binds together the three persons of the [Read More...]

Excuse the Amish in Me

If you want to know the truth there’s Amish in me. My ancestors came to Pennsylvania in the 1770s from Switzerland. They were Mennonite. They settled in Lancaster County along with the Amish. Go to Lancaster County and Berks County. You’ll find lots of Longeneckers. The Amish hunker down and mind their own business. Coming [Read More...]

St Peter’s Magic Lantern Show

Conservative pundits are all worked up about the super duper climate change slide show on the facade of St Peter’s yesterday. Life Site News here goes all conspiratorial about the connections of the groups that funded the show and how it was all a left wing, climate change, one world government, population control propaganda exercise. Well, [Read More...]

The Syrian Refugee Solution in Five Easy Steps

The solution to the Syrian refugee problem is simple. It goes like this: First we have to admit that we can’t take everyone. Therefore there has to be a selection process. Quite sensibly we should acknowledge that there might be a problem of terrorists sneaking in as refugees and we want to weed them out. [Read More...]

Twelve Ways Donald Trump Reflects America Today

Why is Donald Trump so popular? Because we elect the leaders who are like us. We get who we deserve. Far from being a renegade, a wild card or an outsider, Donald Trump is the ultimate twenty first century American. He typifies America. He is America. He can clothe himself in the flag he is [Read More...]

Debate with Evangelical on The Immaculate Conception

David Gustafson was a classmate of mind at Bob Jones University. We met again after many years and after a long running discussion via email about things Catholic and Protestant we wrote a book together called Mary-A Catholic Evangelical Debate.  The book is now out of print and I’m working to make it available again. In [Read More...]

The Quest for Mercy

My latest blog at National Catholic Register is Indiana Jones and Finding Mercy The gospel says “Seek and you will find” and one of the ways of seeking is to go on a treasure hunt. This is how I’ve come to regard the ancient Catholic tradition of going on pilgrimage. You set out from home [Read More...]

Whatever Happened to St Nicholas?

Here is a seasonal piece from Imaginative Conservative on how St Nicholas became Santa Claus How did a fourth century heretic slapping bishop from Southern Turkey wind up being a fat, Coca-Cola-swigging American elf? St. Nicholas was born into a wealthy Christian family in the third century. His parents died in a plague, and having [Read More...]

The Pyramid of Hate in the Muslim World

This article gives some statistics about the atmosphere of hate in the Muslim world, and it illustrates the difficulty we face in disentangling the Islamic religion from Islamic culture. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is graciously optimistic about the religion of Islam, but in the inter faith section it doesn’t speak of the culture of [Read More...]