While We’re At It

♦︎ In my meditation on the legacy of World War II above, I conclude with an observation about the perennial clashes among nations. To the dismay of anti-communist conservatives, the historian John Lukacs often insisted that the Cold War was not an ideological struggle. He recognized that the Eastern Bloc was dominated by Russia, not “communism.” From time immemorial, various nations and peoples have had imperial and expansionist ambitions. In the modern era, those ambitions often have been clothed in ideological garb. Yet, however much the tricolor purports to represent liberty, equality, and fraternity, the peoples conquered by Napoleon knew that it was the flag of France.

---

♦︎ In her “Girls” Substack, Freya India reinforces my observations about our descent into simulated lives. Writing about her Gen-Z peers:

Life is now, first and foremost, content. We put on make-up to look good for Instagram. We travel to get good TikToks. We make memories to market them online. Other people have become props for our posts; boyfriends have turned into tripods who take endless pictures of us. Beautiful scenery is nothing but a backdrop for selfies, friends are accessories to pose with. We have become so consumed by our online lives that very little exists outside them.

Polling suggests that Gen Z isn’t happy with its increasingly virtual existence. But the lure is strong, and an all too human weakness of will keeps us tethered to things that we know are not good.

---

♦︎ I disagree with Michael Sean Winters about many things. But he’s right about the just war tradition. Writing in the National Catholic Reporter:

In his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas Pope Leo XIV stated: “Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the ‘just war’ theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated.” The clause “without prejudice to the right to self-­defense in the strictest sense” defeats the conclusion that just war theory is outdated. If there is a legitimate right to self-defense, and a war fought on that basis is just, then we need a theory to explain why it is just and other wars are not. Call it what you will, that is a just war theory.

Winters notes that self-defense is not the only just cause for war-making. A just war can seek “to restore a peace that has been broken or to correct and eliminate an injustice that is intolerable.” He worries that a superficially pious outlook that rejects war under any circumstances “betrays a deeper inability to wrestle with the fact of evil in the world.” Yes, we should cherish and promote peace, but “nothing in the Gospels frees us from the responsibility before history to protect the weak and defenseless. Some injustices cry out to heaven for redress and war, or something very much like war, may be required to end the wrong.” The effort by some ecclesiastical eminences (including the pope?) to “toss aside” just war theory “is a truly bad idea. War is a terrible thing but it is not always the most terrible thing.”

I commend Michael Sean Winters for saying what needs to be said, and for doing so to his liberal Catholic comrades, who are not likely to welcome his wise counsel on this important matter.

---

♦︎ The venerable Harvey Mansfield recently published a volume of interest to those puzzling over how elite higher education lost its way: Where Harvard Went Wrong. When I first heard of this book from my friends at Encounter Books (the publisher), I assumed, given the title, that it would be a multi-volume set. In the event, Mansfield provides a concise account of wayward policies, as well as advice about how to recover the education that makes higher education higher. 

---

♦︎ Defeated at the polls, Viktor Orbán, endlessly derided by mainstream commentators as a crypto-fascist threat to democracy, oversaw a peaceful transfer of power to Péter Magyar, head of the victorious political party. Now in power, Magyar’s government has proposed a constitutional amendment limiting premiership to two terms, applied retroactively. The amendment seems tailor-­made to prevent Orbán (five times elected as prime minister) from ever returning to office. No doubt this measure will be touted as a defense of democracy. Note: Angela Merkel was elected chancellor of Germany four times, serving sixteen consecutive years, and not a single mainstream commentator suggested that her grip on power was a threat to democracy. 

---

♦︎ Robert Louis Wilken passed away on June 6. Former chairman of the board of the Institute on Religion and Public Life (publisher of First Things), Robert was a longtime pillar of our enterprise. His friendship with our founder, Richard John Neuhaus, long predated the launch of First Things in 1990. The two attended the Lutheran equivalent of minor seminary together in the 1950s, and then Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. ­Robert’s leadership ensured that this publication remained true to its founding mission.

Robert was a man of the Church first and foremost. In our many years of friendship, he always encouraged me to think and write as a Christian, for Christians. When I assumed the role of editor, Robert was a relentless opponent of any invasion of a merely political voice or tone. “Make the theological primary,” he often advised. Robert was confident that the light of faith illuminates all things, especially the darkness of our political passions.

Robert was also a warm friend. He cooked fabulous meals, after which Carol, his wife of sixty-six years, would allow us our “blah-blah time,” and Robert and I would retire to the garden behind their Washington town house to smoke cigars in the humid summer evenings. One time, after I had the opportunity to reciprocate and cook for Robert and Carol, we sat in our living room with my wife, chatting about this and that. As he rose to leave, Robert exclaimed, “That was wonderful. We talked about life.” Surely one could ascribe to Robert the sentiment expressed by Alexis de Tocqueville: “Nothing is more unproductive to the mind than an abstract idea.”

We clashed at times. Once, in a matter concerning the editorial direction of First Things, Robert said to me with frustration, “You don’t listen to me.” I responded emphatically, “I do listen to you. It’s just that I disagree with what you are saying.” He gave me a look that was a perfect combination of amusement and disgust. Then, as he lovingly prepared a cappuccino for me, the amusement became predominant, and he announced with a chuckle, “Richard was much worse.”

It was my great good fortune to know Robert Wilken. I owe him many debts. His devotion to First Things was complete. His friendship was without reserve. His witness to a life of Christian scholarship was inspiring. And he gave me the greatest gift: constant reminders that to seek the face of God in prayer is more precious than anything I might do or achieve. May God in his abundant mercy give Robert that which he sought. 

---

♦︎ There’s still time to register for the 2026 Intellectual Retreat. This year’s topic: “Beauty Made, Unmade, and Remade.” The retreat begins with a dinner lecture (with choral accompaniment!) by School of Sacred Music director Zachary Watters. Seminars on Saturday will discuss readings by Plato, Roger Scruton, Josef Pieper, and John Paul II, among others. The retreat takes place on August 7–8. You can get more information at firstthings.com/events. 

---

♦︎ On August 31 at 7 p.m., Carl Trueman will deliver our annual lecture in Austin, Texas (co-sponsored by the Center for Christian Studies): “Prometheus Ashamed: Technological Humiliation and the Human Condition.” Again, more information is available at firstthings.com/events. 

---

♦︎ I’m pleased to announce the title of the 2026 Erasmus Lecture, to be delivered by Yoram Hazony: “Only the Old Testament Can Restore America.” The lecture will be delivered at the Union League Club in New York on Monday, November 2. We’ll have more information on our events page soon. 

---

♦︎ Two readers are seeking to form Readers of First Things (ROFTers) groups in their areas.

Alex Ragonesi, New Orleans, Louisiana. Contact her at alexragonesi13@gmail.com.

Jared Pemberton, St. Albans, Vermont. Contact him at jw_pemberton@icloud.com. 

---

♦︎ As I write, our spring fundraising campaign is in its final stages. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed. Your support sustains First Things as America’s strongest voice for religion in public life.