R. R. Reno

Neuhaus, public intellectual? Yesterday, CBC radio ran a long segment on the legacy of Richard John Neuhaus. Native of Pembroke, Ontario, it's fitting that Canada's public radio would cover the publication of his biography, written by Randy Boyagoda, also a Canadian. RJN's a native son gone . . . . Continue Reading »

• George Scialabba thinks William Deresiewicz is exactly right about today’s deformed university culture. In a review essay (“Class and the Classroom,” Foreign Affairs), he recounts and endorses Deresiewicz’s ­account in Excellent Sheep of the soul-­destroying meritocratic competition . . . . Continue Reading »

The poor often suffer from a moral and spiritual poverty far more primitive than a lack of upward . . . . Continue Reading »

It's not a petition, strictly speaking. It's a statement of fidelity to the Catholic Church's historic teaching on sex and marriage. Originally signed by nearly five hundred English priests in March, it's now being circulated in the United States at credopriests.org and available for priest here to sign. Here's the statement: Continue Reading »

As I expected, the leaders of the Catholic Church have done everything they can to avoid saying anything in response to the furor over the Indiana RFRA. Their counsel is “dialogue,” an unfortunate weasel word long used by administrators who don't want to take a stand. Continue Reading »

Yesterday I put forward my analysis of the extraordinary propaganda blitz and its implications. In doing so, I said that no prominent Republicans have come forward to back Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana currently under attack. This is not true, and I've updated the post. Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and Scott Walker has expressed support in one way or another. Continue Reading »

Meet Mary Stinemetz Continue Reading »

The biography is out. Richard John ­Neuhaus: A Life in the Public Square was researched and written by Randy ­Boyagoda. It was a five-year project, including time spent in New York interviewing Neuhaus’s friends and colleagues, digging into his extensive correspondence and archival . . . . Continue Reading »

Ken Ilgunas moved into a big, drafty house in rural Nebraska. He experimented to see how low he could turn the thermostat during the cold, windy winter. He found that with many layers of clothes and fingerless gloves, and wrapped in a down sleeping bag, he could live and work with an inside . . . . Continue Reading »

We’re in a moment of mass hysteria, one that vindicates Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s decision to sign his state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This law establishes a strong standard for religious liberty: A person’s free exercise of religious can be “substantially burdened” by a law only if that law advances a “compelling government interest” in a way that involves “the least restrictive means.” Continue Reading »