Occasionally I wonder why people fight in the “culture wars”. As a teen, I became an evangelical christian (little “c” intentional as evangelical christianity truly had little if anything to do with the teachings of Christ… then or now); and was trained and prepared to take my place as a Culture Warrior. My conservative christian church warned me that my generation was the last line of defense, from Godlessness…or worse…liberalism.
I remember sitting at a giant “Jesus” festival with about 20K other kids, hearing a speaker talk about why condoms being passed out at schools would create a permissive sex environment that would lead people astray… away from wholesome purity and Jesus… Sex after all can lead to dancing. Kids would be having sex in the classroom, hallways, and in lockers (you can check out my Pornhub channel on locker sex later, you have to be flexible!).
I say that now only tongue in cheek because as an adult, I look back at my teen years and see a form of blatant manipulation. The big lie that my generation was the last line of defense in the culture wars was quickly replaced as the next generation became teenagers and heard the same thing. I have no doubt the generation after that heard the same thing too.
As an adult, I see the Culture War very differently. I guess you can say I’ve put my childish ways behind me. But what is the”Culture War? The Sociology Dictionary defines the Culture War as:
“Conflict, especially political, over cultural values, particularly in the United States”
The American ‘culture wars’, or, as author James Davison Hunter said in a 1991 book, “the struggle to define America” originally revolved around such topics as abortion, homosexuality, and public schools. And some wars are still fought there. Some political manipulation and the ‘culture wars” can now be about anything. Truly anything.
Case in point. Comedian Roseanne Barr had the rebooted version of a television show cancelled because she made a racist tweet towards a prominent half Iranian, half African-American woman. It wasn’t the first racist or xenophobic tweet she had made and the network her show aired on decided that keeping her on air was not good for business. Thus they cancelled season 2 of her show.
And then the culture war began. Meme’s flood the internet.
And of course, washed up 1970’s rocker Ted Nugent got in on the culture war…
And Alex Jones, a conservative entertainer who testified in court that he plays a character who believes in conspiracy theories jumped in…
And we can’t forget Conservative Talk Radio Host Bill Mitchell...
And, in a matter of hours a narrative is formed. And repeated, and expanded on. And then, just as quickly as the issue arose, the issue fades… until the next issue in the never ending culture war.
Stephen Prothero investigated America’s culture wars from Thomas Jefferson to Barack Obama. He found that the Culture Wars follow a predictable pattern. They tend to start on the social or political right, with conservatives anxious about some cultural change. Yet conservatives almost always lose these culture wars, because they attach themselves to lost causes.
That’s how this latest round in our culture wars is likely to conclude, too. If you fear (as I do) what a President Trump might do, remember that the promise to build a Mexico-financed border wall or to ban Muslims from entering the country are as lost as causes can be. – Stephen Prothero in the Washington Post
His research into the patterns of human behavior and how they relate to Culture Wars is fascinating:
In almost every case, these culture wars have been conservative projects, instigated and waged by people anxious about the loss of old orders and the emergence of new ones. Their anxiety finds expression first as a complaint about a particular policy, and second as a broader lament about how far the nation has fallen from its founding glory and how desperately we need to restore whatever is passing away. Or, to put it in Trumpian terms: The nation has been schlonged, but it will be great again.
Conservatives often blame liberals for the losses they are experiencing and for threatening the health and welfare of the nation. They say liberals started the culture wars by banning prayer from schools or agitating for feminism or black power. But conservative anxiety usually has little to do with liberal activism. It can be triggered by demographic trends. Or a Supreme Court ruling. Or a reality-television star. – Stephen Prothero in the Washington Post
But culture wars are nothing new. A look at the brief history of America finds that forms of Culture Wars have taken place throughout our history.
Anti-Catholicism and anti-Mormonism are thought to be right-wing reactions to 19th-century Catholic immigration and Mormon migration, and to the moral, theological, social and economic threats posed to Protestant power. Similarly, the culture wars of the 1920s and 1930s were conservative responses to the rise of the saloon and the speakeasy — and to the cultural pluralism brought on by rapid immigration and the consolidation and growth of cities.
Protestants who saw themselves as victims of Deism in 1800, of Catholicism in the 1830s and 1840s, and of Mormonism before and after the Civil War fought losing culture wars over the rights of Protestants to have influence over society. The Catholic and Latter Day Saints churches still became well established in our plural society.
More recently in US History, a major culture war was fought over the Vietnam War. A culture war raged over the US Military’s actions in Vietnam. Beyond the protests around the time of the unpopular war, the culture war continued long after the war was concluded. Music, Movies, Television and more all played a part in changing the national conscience about a war based on anti-communist aggression, that Robert McNamara (Secretary of Defense, 1961-1968) declared unwinnable.
As an example, the television show M*A*S*H (based on a movie of the same title) is widely understood to be a commentary on the Vietnam War, despite being set during the Korean conflict. The show was about the staff of an Army Mobile Field Hospital. When M*A*S*H premiered in 1972, the United States of America was winding down its military activity in Vietnam. Fed up with drafts, ‘senseless’ violence abroad, and the “behavior of US military in Vietnam as a force that abused the very people and society it was sent to ‘save,’, the American public was war wary. Protests ranged from peaceful protests to violent action as young, college-age students loudly expressed their opinions about how their government was handling foreign policy. CBS network saw the opportunity to attract this valuable demographic through a show that reflected those views.
Series creator Larry Gelbart said about the show, “We wanted to say that war was futile, to represent that it was a failure on everybody’s part that people had to kill each other to make a point.”
The entire Vietnam experience, reflected in entertainment and activism helped change the nations view of war and conflict. Those views continue to be reflected in our society even today.
With a reality-TV show President who appears more concerned with style than substance, and an electorate that is becoming increasingly divided and uninformed, Culture Wars serve their purpose. They divide the population and empower those fighting the culture war… for the brief few microseconds an issue matters. Like all culture wars, the lifespan is brief. As Martin Luther King Jr said:
Or as Stephen Prophero said:
To look at our culture wars over the long haul is to see not only how poisonous our politics can get but also how inclusive our nation has become. Conflicts give way to consensus. Causes once labeled “liberal” become “American values,” embraced by liberals and conservatives alike. Same-sex marriage becomes just marriage. Islam is recognized as part of our shared Abrahamic tradition. We cease to view particular immigrant groups as threats — as “drug dealers,” “rapists” and terrorists — and instead appreciate their contributions to our society. – Stephen Prothero in the Washington Post
So what to do about the culture wars? Nothing. The less we feed into the culture war of the moment, the less energy they have. Instead, bend your arc towards justice. Care for the downtrodden. Help the helpless. And stand for what is good, and true, and right. Stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. Stand for honesty and kindness…
Or, as the fictional computer WOPR said in the movie war games:
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