R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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Was The Reformation Necessary?

A friend and I have been corresponding, covering lots of different topics, but lately focusing on the Reformation. A question came up. Did the Reformation need to happen? I don’t like that question (and I told my friend so), because “necessary” and “unnecessary” tend to distort our view . . . . Continue Reading »

3 Dec 2010

Preachments of a Catholic Chair

I think of myself as a fairly jaundiced academic, unlikely to be taken aback by shrill, politically correct rhetoric. But I guess I’m wrong, because the crude pronouncements of Robert Orsi, holder of the Grace Craddock Nagle Chair in Catholic Studies at Northwestern University, shocked me. . . . . Continue Reading »

3 Dec 2010

Desire Defines Reality

Recently I’ve been musing metaphysically, and today’s article by Stephen J. Heaney on Public Discourse (” Just the Facts, M’am “) struck a chord. Heaney picks up a story about a female college basketball player who has announced that she wants to be thought of as a . . . . Continue Reading »

29 Nov 2010

Healthcare and Abortion

On the always interesting Public Discourse , James Capretta engages the question of how a pro-life person should think about the ongoing debates about healthcare. The question was raised by Richard Stith in a web article for First Things , who made the arresting observation that a nationalized . . . . Continue Reading »

19 Nov 2010

Political Commentary And Responsibility

Some friends have been challenging my reasoning. (I know, I know, it’s hard to imagine anyone challenging my reasoning, but who can account for the recklessness of one’s friends?) On Thursday I wrote about Fr. Raymond Schroth’s proposed one-state solution to the Israel/Palestinian . . . . Continue Reading »

19 Nov 2010

More on Tolerance

I recently argued against the idea that tolerance was, in itself, a sign of good citizenship . We need to recognize that we should tolerate what should be tolerated, but not what shouldn’t. Well, that’s a pretty open-ended formulation, and it’s helpful to make some . . . . Continue Reading »

17 Nov 2010

Religion in Public Life

A new book on religion came out recently, America’s Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us . Written by Robert Putnam of Bowling Alone fame, along with David Campbell, the book is chocked full of data and charts, along with the Aunt Sue and Uncle John anecdotes that many put into popular . . . . Continue Reading »

16 Nov 2010

The Theology of Everything-Is-Beautiful-In-Its-Own-Way

After I left the Episcopal Church to enter the Catholic Church a half a dozen years ago, a good and wise friend told me to avoid taking pot shots from afar. Sage advice. But a video by Gene Robinson this is part of the It Gets Better campaign has a line that strikes me as telling, and I can’t . . . . Continue Reading »

12 Nov 2010

End Academic Ostpolitik

Good for Todd Hartch. The professor of history at Eastern Kentucky University decided to go public, writing a letter opposing the decision by the university president to extend benefits to domestic partners akin to those available to married couples. On Public Discourse, he gives an account of his . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Nov 2010

Marketing Death

Well, I’m not surprised. As Joe mentioned last week , the death salesman who created the exhibitions of human bodies is now putting up his specially prepared cadavers up for sale . Gunther von Hagens came up with techniques for extracting fluids and fatty flesh from dead bodies that are . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Nov 2010