Various

Reward R. R. Reno reports that there’s a $10,000 reward for anyone who can change Sam Harris’s mind about strict materialism (“Rewriting Nature’s Laws,” May). I’ve read just a few sentences of Harris’s work, and all of it attempted to persuade. Of course if . . . . Continue Reading »

Anyone who wants to understand the perilous condition of religious freedom in America should read this book. In lucid prose, University of San Diego law professor Steven D. Smith contests basic themes of the conventional story of American religious freedom and presents a provocative and compelling . . . . Continue Reading »

Putin, Catholicism I was rather disturbed by R. R. ­Reno’s column “Global Culture Wars” (April). I understand that First Things is a monthly, and perhaps he would have written this article a little differently in light of Russia’s invasion of Crimea. (At least, I hope . . . . Continue Reading »

In Abuse of Discretion, the latest book lobbed at the unsteady edifice of Roe v. Wade, Clarke D. Forsythe turns to the Supreme Court justices’ private notes and memos from 1971 to 1973 in order to “solve the puzzle” of the court’s legalization of abortion on demand. The . . . . Continue Reading »

Food FightR. R. Reno’s response to my “pushback” shows that he is not convinced of the gravity of the harms of conventional farming and agribusiness, nor the substantial benefits of small-scale, sustainable farming (“Inequality and Agency,” March). In other words, for . . . . Continue Reading »

Implosion: The End of Russia and What It Means for Americaby ilan bermanregnery, 256 pages, $27.95 This book arrived in my mailbox the day the Winter Olympics in Sochi began. It was disquieting to read Ilan Berman’s grim account of the dying of a once great state as the vulgar grandiosity of a . . . . Continue Reading »

Papal EconomicsR. R. Reno blew it rather badly (“Francis and the Market,” ­February). He writes, “and there’s the mother of all questions, the one Francis brings to the fore: How can we include as many people as possible in the prosperity being created by the capitalist . . . . Continue Reading »

No-fault divorce changed the American culture of marriage. So did the sexual revolution. Now proponents of gay rights are redefining marriage at an even more fundamental level. What’s to be done? As a post-biblical vision of sex, gender, and marriage gains the upper hand in our society, should our . . . . Continue Reading »

Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinasby matthew j. ramagecua, 312 pages, $39.95 Benedict XVI’s letter Verbum Domini refers to “dark passages” of the Old Testament that contradict the ethical teachings, monotheistic claims, or assertions . . . . Continue Reading »

DiscriminationEven though we disagree on gay marriage and on gay rights more generally, I admire R. R. Reno’s honesty and integrity in his writing about these issues, and I read what he says with care and appreciation. However, I was surprised by his dismissive remarks regarding the aims of . . . . Continue Reading »