Thanks From the Future

You’re the best! First Things readers are intellectually engaged, morally and religiously committed, and very generous. We concluded our spring campaign in fine fashion, raising $625,000, far exceeding our conservative (naturally) goal of $500,000.

Your donations ensure the future of First Things. That’s something of no mean importance. We are living in a time of change. No matter what the events—G-7 meetings, summits in Singapore, immigration policies, judicial appointments—the mainstream media maintains a tone of crisis. Fascism, authoritarianism, Auschwitz, and other horrors are on the tongues of many.

In these circumstances, sober, reflective analysis becomes more important than ever. First Things provides you with something to think about, not just something to get enraged about. We want to think along with our readers, rather than feed you a party line or promote hysteria to motivate you to vote this way or that way.

It’s our theological foundation that gives us freedom from all the political hyperventilation. First Things editors, writers, and readers share a transcendent outlook. We know that Donald Trump is not the anti-Christ—or a savior. We’re aware that empires wax and wane, and that in the affairs of men there’s a great deal of waste excreted as we thrash about, trying to do our best, but always weighed down by our fallen natures.

We’re engaged and committed, yes, but we’re also sober and realistic, even a bit jaundiced. These days, we do well to read a little St. Augustine or Martin Luther. Puts things into a better, more theological perspective. 

Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your donation to our spring campaign. Thanks, too, for being a reader—and more than a reader, a thoughtful participant in the public life of the West. May our number increase!

R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.