I have repeatedly asked some of you to please not bring up irrelevancies or, in particular, non sequitur snide references to religion. I will no longer edit such comments. I don’t have the time. I have commenced trashing them. If the offenses continue, I will blackball the commenter without bothering to read the comments.
I welcome opposing comments to my perspectives. Indeed, they help make SHS a better place and challenge my own thinking, which I appreciate. But there are plenty of people who engage respectfully, relevantly, and forcefully, without offending my basic and easy to follow ground rules. I don’t mind sharp elbows, particularly when they are poked into my ribs. But, I don’t have the time to teach preschool. Those who just want to lash out, please feel free to start your own blog or go elsewhere to work out your obsessions. You are not going to do it here.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…