R. R. Reno

We’re in a moment of mass hysteria, one that vindicates Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s decision to sign his state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This law establishes a strong standard for religious liberty: A person’s free exercise of religious can be “substantially burdened” by a law only if that law advances a “compelling government interest” in a way that involves “the least restrictive means.” Continue Reading »

This issue marks our twenty-fifth anniversary. Our grand adventure in intellectual journalism began in March 1990. Back then, there was reason for optimism. The Roe decision was not yet twenty years old. The Reagan victories in the 1980s demonstrated that political liberalism could be defeated, at . . . . Continue Reading »

• I am not Charlie. I am not a trickster or prankster. I do not think freedom is based on mockery and transgression. I do not believe that a culture of freedom is nourished by the conceit that nothing is sacred. • Charlie Hebdo reflects a self-­complimenting nihilism. It claims the . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s subtitled “A historical reflection,” but there’s not much reflection in Jeet Heer’s survey of race in The New Republic. Instead, “The New Republic’s Legacy on Race” is for the most part an enumeration of racial demerits, along with a shorter list . . . . Continue Reading »

Nicholas Kristof’s blatant use of a tired liberal trick astounds me. What does it say about our liberal institutions that a regular columnist at the New York Times can combine a call for tolerance and understanding with crude denunciations of Christian conservatives? Continue Reading »

Political correctness is gelding liberalism, as Jonathan Chait recently observed. A punitive spirit of denunciation haunts pretty much any conversation among liberals. We’ve seen it for a generation in higher education. Continue Reading »

I could hear the protesters down the street. They gathered in Union Square to demonstrate, then marched up Park Avenue, shouting, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” The grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who shot Michael Brown in . . . . Continue Reading »

• Richard J. Mouw has written a wonderful book, Called to the Life of the Mind: Some Advice for Evangelical Scholars (Eerdmans, 2014). A bright young student raised in a tradition of conservative Evangelical pietism, Mouw recalls that his pastors “often viewed the intellectual life . . . . Continue Reading »

The Obama administration dropped its call for taxes on 529 college savings plans. These are tax-preferred savings vehicles that allow families to put away money to pay for Junior’s college expenses when the time comes. The outcry against this proposal was not surprising, and it makes no sense to undermine the program. Continue Reading »

I’ve lost count of the emails from readers and friends upset by Maureen Mullarkey’s sharply worded posting on Pope Francis on her blog, which we host. . . . Continue Reading »