R. R. Reno

The Peace Treaty

When we pledge our faithfulness to another on our wedding day, we’re mocking the changeableness of life, saying that we trust in the covenant of marriage to transcend the weakness of our flesh, the fickleness of our passions, and the fragility of our egos. Continue Reading »

A Note of Thanks

Dear Reader,

Thank you for being a part of our fall 2016 fundraising campaign! Continue Reading »

A Spectacle, Not a Debate

I don’t recall candidates in past debates appealing so directly to the technocratic virtues. I wonder whether ordinary voters found this off-putting. If they did, Trump failed to exploit the opening. Continue Reading »

A word of congratulations to The New Criterion

Congratulations on 35 years of exemplary cultural leadership. A responsible, discerning critic builds culture by extolling the good, the excellent, the beautiful, and the true, as well as by censuring the corrupt, the base, the ugly, and the trivial. Since its founding in 1982, The New Criterion . . . . Continue Reading »

Denunciation Overload

Given the fact that the regular opinion writers for our nation's establishment liberal paper so often indulge in denunciation, I find it more than a little odd that everyone is hysterical about Donald Trump's intemperate rhetoric. Continue Reading »

Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society

Over the last few years, I've been making a case for a strong Christian witness in today's society. Continue Reading »

“Hate,” Once More: The Assassination of Jo Cox

Last week, Thomas Mair murdered Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox in a village in northern England. Yesterday, Parliament paid tribute to her in a special session. To judge by the speeches, British politicians are just as attracted to the explanatory power of “hate” in political violence as are their . . . . Continue Reading »

A Letter from Rusty

Dear Readers, Supporters, and Friends,

There's still time to contribute to the mission of First Things. Continue Reading »

Francis's Improv Theology

Francis reminds us that the Eucharist is not “a prize for the perfect.” But marriage, apparently, is. Continue Reading »

Left or Right, No One Is Happy

An earthquake is coming. Continue Reading »