R. R. Reno

Paul Ryan will not seek another term in Congress. No doubt the personal reasons he gave for bowing out are important. But it’s likely he’s also frustrated that the market-oriented and freedom-focused conservatism he took for granted has lost traction. He’s not alone. The ideas and priorities . . . . Continue Reading »

The American experiment.” I cringed whenever Richard John Neuhaus used that formulation. We live in a country, not an experiment. I seek to purify my soul so that I may be worthy of citizenship in the City of God. But in this temporal frame, I have never wanted to be anything other than an . . . . Continue Reading »

Most of our elite universities have been rigorous about merit from their inceptions. What’s changed is what counts as merit. Continue Reading »

Our first reaction is a benumbed sadness. Seventeen dead in a Florida school, shot by a disturbed young man. Then we search for explanations. The killer suffers from mental illness. Like so many others, he is from a broken home. Guns are too readily available. The media frenzy makes the shooter into . . . . Continue Reading »

A Catholic politics never seeks to be a sacred politics, never proposes a full and complete integration of statecraft with soulcraft. Continue Reading »

The political winds are shifting, and our elites are increasingly dismayed and disoriented. Voters throughout the West are rejecting establishment parties, often in spite of dire warnings by the mainstream media and the leadership class. The European Union, supposedly a template for a more . . . . Continue Reading »

An atmosphere of crisis envelops us. Political commentary has become hysterical, not just on clickbait Internet platforms, but also in prestige journals and newspapers. Authoritarian, fascist, neo-Nazi, white nationalist, neo-Bolshevik—these terms are being used liberally today. After penning . . . . Continue Reading »

Blood pressure is rising. Folks are worried about “illiberalism.” In a November issue of the Washington Post, Anne Applebaum warned of a rising “neo-Bolshevism” assailing the West: “Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen and Jaroslaw Kacyniski.” Others have more . . . . Continue Reading »

From its very beginning, First Things has been a venture in which Jews and Christians have worked together.  Continue Reading »

We can make a difference in 2018. Let’s work together to renew the voice of faith in the public square. Continue Reading »