R. R. Reno

The Affordable Care Act mandates that employers offer and individuals buy insurance that provides free contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization. It seems we have passed from a society that allows legal access to these drugs and services to one that insists that they must be free, . . . . Continue Reading »

Recently I was rereading Rawls on the notion of public reason. This idea is dear to Rawls, because it’s part of his larger vision of participatory democracy. We need to be “in on” the reasons behind public policies, because that’s necessary in order for us to be able to . . . . Continue Reading »

Mother Jones recently posted a video that captures Romney talking to some Republican Party donors. In response to a question Romney drew on a distinction that I’ve heard a number of people make. The future of the country is in the balance, this way of thinking argues, because nearly half the . . . . Continue Reading »

We saw it with George W. Bush. Liberals would lose all sense of balance and proportion, falling into patterns of bitter denunciation. Now it seems to be happening with Paul Ryan. A recent issue of the New Republic features an extended tirade of sorts in which Leon Wieseltier sets out to show that the Paul Ryan “likes his capitalism cruel.” … Continue Reading »

The success of Dinesh D’Souza’s new movie, 2016: Obama’s America, leads me to revisit my thoughts about his recent book on which the film is based, The Roots of Obama’s Rage. I was and remain unconvinced by the argument that Obama’s anti-colonialist father explains his governing mentality. By my reckoning, the emerging postmodern liberalism of Columbia University circa 1982 (where I was for a semester as a visiting student) explains Obama pretty well… . Continue Reading »

Joan Desmond at the National Catholic Register conducted a very useful interview with Ross Douthat . I find myself agreeing with what Douthat has to say about Catholicism’s realignment from Democratic to Republican (a very partial and complicated but real change). We face a challenge. Because . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, lots more. This new report about a civil union between three people (a man and two women) in Brazil suggests that those of us worried about the slippery slope aren’t out of our minds. I should say that Brazil and South America in general has a much stronger political tradition on the . . . . Continue Reading »

Times sure have changed. It wasn’t but a generation ago (OK, a long generation, but still) that the Republican Party was the party of moderately conservative mainline Protestants, while Jews and Catholics were solidly in the Democratic camp. Now the GOP will feature a rabbi giving the . . . . Continue Reading »

A particularly amusing book came across my desk recently. It’s Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans by David Niose, a “secular activist” in Washington. This is not a book to turn to for nuance. Here’s a sample: Anti-intellectualism, the disappearing middle . . . . Continue Reading »

I love the Feast of the Assumption. The readings for the day include a dragon ready to devour the son of the sun-clothed Queen of Heaven. And then there is the magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s hymn of thanksgiving and praise: “My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior.” … Continue Reading »