I have a confession when it comes to the culture war our society is mired in: I consider myself a pacifist on this front. As the battles rage on between the woke left and the anti-woke right, it seems clear to me that there will be no winners, only losers. Those losers are the majority of Americans, in the middle, who want a government that actually governs.
James Davison Hunter’s 1991 book, “Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America,” focused on the convergence of Christian fundamentalists, Orthodox Jews and conservative Catholics “in a battle against their progressive counterparts for control of American secular culture,” the book cover states. The culture wars have certainly evolved in the 31 years since. But at its heart, as always, is a struggle for America’s cultural identity.
The culture wars are a response to the conflict between the secularization of society and the values many Americans still adhere to. Then there are those who inflame these grievances and resentments for political gain. The culture wars are used as a cudgel for both the right and the left, who typically portray the other side as an existential threat to their very survival.
