R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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When Reality is Unspoofable

Take a look at this version of the program for the recent Catholic Theological Society of America meeting. Preliminary Program 2010 It’s very funny because so very believable, and sad too, for the same reason. . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jun 2010

Slapstick Academic Satire

For a delightful romp through the academic groves, see a satirical effusion from Jason Peters over at The Front Porch Republic:  The Way to Bliss. Part David Lodge, part Jonathan Swift, part John Kennedy Toole, this collegiate reverie has some wickedly funny moments: feminist archeologists who . . . . Continue Reading »

11 Jun 2010

More on the Politics of Humanitarianism

Yesterday I encouraged readers to take a look at a column by David Rieff over on The New Republic website.  Today’s Wall Street Journal reports some changes in the Obama administration’s efforts to support dissidents in Iran. The details are interesting, and readers will . . . . Continue Reading »

11 Jun 2010

Politics and Humanitarianism

In an important and insightful essay over at The New Republic , David Rieff makes some particularly astute observations about larger implications of the diplomatic crisis that erupted in the wake of the Israeli confrontation at sea with the Free Gaza flotilla. There is little doubt that, as a . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jun 2010

Unintelligent Response to Intelligent Design

The folks at  lifesitenews.com report that David Coppedge is litigating against NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab for harassment and threats of termination.  His offense: talking to co-workers about Intelligent Design.  I’m not a big fan of the ID arguments, and it seems that Mr. . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Jun 2010

Mortification of the Flesh

I’ve been reading John Cassian’s Conferences lately, a work that along with his Institutes were written at the beginning of the fifth century. Cassian’s goal is to convey to his Latin-speaking readers the spiritual wisdom of early Egyptian monasticism, and he lived with the monks . . . . Continue Reading »

8 Jun 2010

The Failures of the Church

I’m like most. The latest wave of revelations about clerical sexual abuse demoralizes me. I’m not wavering in my conviction that the one true and apostolic communion of the saints subsists in the Catholic Church. I think of what St Paul says: “We have this treasure in earthen . . . . Continue Reading »

30 Apr 2010

The Burden of History

In the pages of his blog for World Affairs, David Reiff has been musing of late about the ways in which historical consciousness influences our political and social imaginations. His reflections on historical memory, especially the tendency for societies to carefully tend the fires of past . . . . Continue Reading »

26 Apr 2010

A Jewish Defense of a Catholic Preacher

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Pos t features an op-ed by Alon Goshen-Gottstei n that defends Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa’s Good Friday sermon last week at St. Peters in Rome. The sermon was in the news because Fr. Cantalamessa drew parallels between the recent media treatment of the pedophilia . . . . Continue Reading »

12 Apr 2010

Keep Philosophy Away From the Barricades

Among contemporary American philosophers, Martha Nussbaum has long represented the best and the worst of the urgent liberal conscience. One feels the moral seriousness of her work—and one worries (at least I do) that intellectual corners are being cut and complexities set aside so that her . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Apr 2010