R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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A Politics of Denunciation

Political correctness is gelding liberalism, as Jonathan Chait recently observed. A punitive spirit of denunciation haunts pretty much any conversation among liberals. We’ve seen it for a generation in higher education. Continue Reading »

3 Feb 2015

The Right Tax to Support Education

The Obama administration dropped its call for taxes on 529 college savings plans. These are tax-preferred savings vehicles that allow families to put away money to pay for Junior’s college expenses when the time comes. The outcry against this proposal was not surprising, and it makes no sense to undermine the program. Continue Reading »

28 Jan 2015

Criticizing Pope Francis

I’ve lost count of the emails from readers and friends upset by Maureen Mullarkey’s sharply worded posting on Pope Francis on her blog, which we host. . . . Continue Reading »

8 Jan 2015

Campaign Report

Dear Reader,One week ago, First Things began a ten-day campaign to help us reach our end of year goal of raising $400,000 from our magazine and online readers. I’m happy to report that we have raised $285,190.04 thus far! That means we have just $114,809.96 left to raise to meet our $400,000 . . . . Continue Reading »

30 Dec 2014

We’re in the Way

On Monday, First Things took its end of year campaign online for a ten-day push to complete our goal of raising $400,000 from our readers by the end of the year. Will you help us reach this goal by making a gift today?

26 Dec 2014

Where Faith Has a Voice

Dear Reader,Thank you for being a reader of First Things. I’m grateful to have you as part of our conspiracy of truth.You’ll be hearing from us more frequently over the next ten days as we continue our year-end donation campaign. Our goal is to raise $400,000 by the end of the year. With . . . . Continue Reading »

23 Dec 2014

University of St. Thomas and NARAL

Yesterday I drew attention to the unfortunate fact that the Biology Department at the University of St. Thomas was directing its students toward pro-abortion activism. Okay, that was a bit too strong. I should have written “listed.” The Biology Department’s website listed NARAL and Planned Parenthood as volunteer opportunities. Continue Reading »

11 Dec 2014

Planned Parenthood and Other Catholic Volunteer Opportunities

The Biology Department of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota publicizes volunteer opportunities on their webpage.Good idea. We should all be encouraged to serve the common good as best we can.  Continue Reading »

10 Dec 2014

Sex on Campus

I haven’t followed the details of the UVA sex scandal. Unless one is an administrator with responsibilities for such things, keeping one’s distance from the facts is probably best for one’s moral health. Indeed, we didn’t need this particular news story to know that there’s a problem. We’ve embarked on a de-regulation of sexual relations. In the official ideology of our time, our bodies are machines available to provide us with pleasure. The same holds for the bodies of others, limited only by consent. Today, at places like UVa this is the unquestioned and unquestionable orthodoxy. Continue Reading »

1 Dec 2014

Marriage Pledge is Not an Imperative of Conscience

Last week, I wrote in favor of the Marriage Pledge and suggested that signing a government-provided document designating Spouse A and Spouse B is contrary to conscience. Ed Peters has rightly criticized me. There is nothing intrinsically evil about politically correct euphemisms in government documents, including ones pertaining to marriage. And thus there’s no complicity with evil when a pastor, priest, or laymen sign such documents.  Continue Reading »

24 Nov 2014