R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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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

More on Thiessen’s Moral Muddles

For those interested in a detailed discussion of the flaws in Marc Thiessen’s use of double effect to justify “enhanced interrogation techniques,” as well as a sober overall judgment about the moral status of our interrogation policies after 9/11, see Christopher Tollefsen’s . . . . Continue Reading »

27 Feb 2010

Muddled Moral Reasoning

In a New York Times column today , Mark Oppenheimer reviews the controversy surrounding former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen’s efforts to square waterboarding with Catholic moral doctrine. Mr. Thiessen has some ill-informed views, and Mr. Oppenheimer seems to have failed to do his homework. . . . . Continue Reading »

26 Feb 2010

France Revisited

While reading Jody Bottum’s reflections on Catholicism and modern France , I found myself disagreeing. I’m inclined to think that we have a great deal to learn from France. There is, of course, a lesson about the dangers to faith when the Church becomes intertwined with political . . . . Continue Reading »

26 Feb 2010

Defending Ruth Wisse

I find it odd that Jody and David have missed Ruth Wisse’s rather obvious point about the philosophical importance of Yiddish. Yiddish was the language in which the logically complex, multi-voiced world of the Talmud made its way into Jewish folk wisdom. The ironic and indirect ways of . . . . Continue Reading »

17 Feb 2010

Obama and Role Playing

Today’s Wall Street Journal ran a sharp op-ed piece by Shelby Steele. Without doubt, Steele has been one of the clearest and most forceful analysts of the tortured reality of race relations in the post-civil rights era. He has written with devastating persuasiveness about the the way in which . . . . Continue Reading »

30 Dec 2009

Conservative and Liberal Habits of Mind

It’s a blessing to have smart readers, and I’ve profited from the string of comments about the differences between conservative and liberal mentalities. Some point out that the Bush administration had its share of ideological blindness, especially with regard to policies after the . . . . Continue Reading »

28 Dec 2009

More on the Invincible Ignorance of Liberalism

Reader Nicholas Frankovich made an important clarification of my general observation that American liberal intellectuals have not come to terms with their moral mistakes. He points out that Susan Sontag spoke up against the self-complimenting anti-anti-communism of the Left. Excellent observation. . . . . Continue Reading »

23 Dec 2009