R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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Syria and Domestic Politics

I continue to be troubled by the President’s approach to military strikes against Syria. He speaks of making sure the chemical attacks in Syria are properly “punished.” This way of talking is morally sloppy. Yes, people can be punished, and should be when they do wicked things. . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Sep 2013

Against Symbolic Killing

I find myself more and more disturbed by the moral implications of President’s Obama’s approach to Syria. He speaks of “sending a message” and firing a “shot across the bow.” This is a dangerous way of thinking about war. There are times when military force can . . . . Continue Reading »

29 Aug 2013

Skeptical on Syria

Something must be done. Or so we’re hearing from many quarters, including now the White House. Count me skeptical. The first thing to say concerns the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons. This is being treated as a bright-line violation of global norms that in itself requires . . . . Continue Reading »

28 Aug 2013

Triumph of Desire

What makes a man a man or a woman or a woman? For a long time—forever to be exact—it was nature and its serendipitous allocations of chromosomes. A tiny, tiny, tiny number of newborns emerged with scrambled codes, but the rest of us fall to one side or the other: “Male and female . . . . Continue Reading »

19 Aug 2013

The Next Revolution

We’re about to enter into a bio-technological revolution that will fundamentally change how children are conceived, gestated, born—-and understood. The science is advancing rapidly. Of equal important are social attitudes. A recent Pew study shows that the American public is largely . . . . Continue Reading »

15 Aug 2013

Jean Bethke Elshtain, RIP

Jean Bethke Elshtain delivering the 2012 Erasmus Lecture, ” On Loyalty .” She died yesterday. It was not a surprise. Jean was suffering from a debilitating heart condition. But it was nonetheless a shock, as the sharp blow of death so often is, even when we see it coming. Jean was one . . . . Continue Reading »

12 Aug 2013

Reproductive Technology

The U.K. is gearing up to legalize reproductive technology that manipulates genes. It’s the beginning of a technological revolution that will have a transformative influence over culture ten times greater than the invention of the Pill. This revolution will begin as a therapeutic imperative . . . . Continue Reading »

28 Jun 2013

Almost Too True to be True

Some months ago Fathers Thomas Joseph White and Austin Litke, O.P., played  bluegrass music at the World Youth Alliance headquarters here in New York. They’re good, and to be frank they also look kinda out-there. It’s not often that you see two guys in white habits playing guitar . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jun 2013

Mosaic Magazine: A Website for Readers

For a number of years I’ve been checking Jewish Ideas Daily, a site that featured writers I’d like to publish in First Things (and in fact often have). It’s now morphed into something new: Mosaic Magazine . This new web offering is the ultimate anti-Twitter. It’s goal is to . . . . Continue Reading »

3 Jun 2013

From the Editor’s Desk, May 2013

From R.R. Reno’s ” Public Square ” in the May issue of First Things . Support First Things by subscribing here . First Things  has been updated for the iPad. It has the same elegant style as the print magazine, but we’ve changed the formatting in significant ways to make . . . . Continue Reading »

10 May 2013