Working for Church Renewal
by Jayd HenricksCatholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal explores ways technology might serve the bishops in addressing their greatest challenges. I’ve been proud to be a part of that group. Continue Reading »
Becoming a Wonderless Robot
by Rich EvaA philosopher’s unproductive morning reveals a disturbing relationship between contemplation and modern technology. Continue Reading »
Surviving the Metaverse
by Mary HarringtonMy childhood religious education was, you might say, haphazard. I met many of the most famous Bible verses for the first time not in church, or through a family member, but in Handel’s Messiah, which I listened to so many times as a youth that I memorized much of the libretto. But somewhat . . . . Continue Reading »
The Fascism Obsession
by John WilsonHere are two forthcoming books that are worth reading not only for themselves but also for the larger conversations they represent. Continue Reading »
Alternative Realities
by Liel LeibovitzThe multiverse is upon us! Everywhere you turn in popular culture these days, it seems like the world is not enough: From hit TV shows to blockbuster films, plot lines run through multiple parallel realities, a cosmic cornucopia that invites us to feast on “what-ifs” and “if-thens.” . . . . Continue Reading »
Incarnate Worship
by Samira KawashIn the first, surreal weeks of the lockdowns of 2020, we all marveled at how COVID had hit at just the right time. Thanks to our Silicon Valley saviors, we had the perfect technologies to shift all “nonessential” activities and gatherings into virtual space. Zoom, which few of us had heard of in . . . . Continue Reading »
Five Rules for Living Faithfully in the Digital Age
by Samuel D. JamesThis isn’t about turning the cultural clock back to 1995. It’s about sustained flourishing in a digital age, which is only possible if we both test the spirits of the age and guard our hearts. Continue Reading »
Ensnared in the Web
by Michael ToscanoAbout ten years ago, I acquired a deep suspicion of smartphones and social media. Riding a late-night L Train back to my Brooklyn apartment, I looked up from my book and observed about a dozen fellow riders, all in their twenties or early thirties, all hunched over, the blue light of their handhelds . . . . Continue Reading »
The Politics of Unhappiness
by Ronald W. DworkinA traffic jam, a shoe that pinches: It takes very little to ruin a nice day. Nothing can please you then, and your judgment is affected. At first glance, unpleasantness and the resulting peevishness have no political or economic significance. These experiences are commonplace, part of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Elon Musk and the Posthumanist Threat
by John WatersMusk is not any kind of conservative, and so the tentative cheers that have greeted his apparent routing of the Twitter board might more wisely have been postponed until we see what the new Twitter may look and sound like.
Continue Reading »
America's most
influential
journal of
religion and
public life
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
influential
journal of
religion and
public life
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
Filter Tag Articles
Subscribe Today!
