My first introduction to the term “culture wars” came when I was working on my Master’s in Public Policy in the late 1990s in an ethics class. One of the assigned readings for the class was Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America by James Davison Hunter. While Hunter did not coin the term, his book popularized the term. Classroom conversations were spirited and divided, with sides taken and lines drawn in the sand as readings were discussed in class. Our cohort was divided mainly along political lines. Debates were about policy and politics, with relative silence about the church, although religious conservatives and progressives were clearly implicated in the struggle.
After all, the culture wars are typically defined based on liberal and conservative political values. Per the dictionary, “a culture war is a conflict between groups, especially liberal and conservative groups, that have different cultural ideals, beliefs, or philosophies.” However, while the definition speaks to politics, with every round of the culture wars, religion broadly and in the United States Christianity specifically are implicated and present in the culture wars. The struggle to define the United States is still evident in the current political climate. The culture wars are here and now.
In 2021, Politico, published an interview with James Davison Hunter. The article, titled ‘How the Culture War Could Break Democracy’ was written by Zac Stanton. Stanton wrote: “He hoped that by calling attention to the dynamic, he’d help America ‘come to terms with the unfolding conflict’ and, perhaps, defuse some of the tensions he saw bubbling. Instead, 30 years later, Hunter sees America as having doubled down on the “war” part—with the culture wars expanding from issues of religion and family culture to take over politics almost totally, creating a dangerous sense of winner-take-all conflict over the future of the country.” That winner-take-all conflict is playing out in the halls of Congress, on the streets of major cities being taken over by the current administration, and in the redrawing of districts in Texas to create more seats for the Republican party. This too is a part of the “redefining of the United States.”
“A year after Hunter put ‘culture wars’ on the social science map, Patrick Buchanan popularized the idea in his speech to the 1992 Republican National Convention. He told the audience in Houston that ‘a cultural war’ was taking place, a ‘struggle for the soul of America.’ The defining issues were abortion, homosexuality, school choice, and ‘radical feminism.’” The list has expanded to include immigration, transgender rights, DEI, and other issues that connect with identity and in some cases morality.
The church has long been a part of the culture wars, pushing for legislative changes based on morals, values and interpretation of scripture and doctrine. The emergence of Christian nationalism is a product of the amplification of the culture wars, with the current ideology espoused by nationalists framing the moment in God-talk including the fallacy of God’s preferential option for the United States and its citizens. This amplification of the culture wars is of concern, and was addressed by Hunter in his 2021 interview.
Hunter warned of the violence that can result from culture wars. “Democracy, in my view, is an agreement that we will not kill each other over our differences, but instead we’ll talk through those differences. And part of what’s troubling is that I’m beginning to see signs of the justification for violence,” says Hunter, noting the insurrection on January 6, when a mob of extremist supporters of Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. “Culture wars always precede shooting wars. They don’t necessarily lead to a shooting war, but you never have a shooting war without a culture war prior to it, because culture provides the justifications for violence.”
The quest for peace and justice has to pay attention to the culture wars which often go unidentified as an integral part of the social fabric. The militarization of cities is an escalation of the culture wars as is the violence being imposed on immigrants, the homeless, the unhoused, the poor, and other communities deemed “problematic” and on the margins of our society. Our voices and actions must refute the attack on democracy and reflect our commitment to work and talk through the differences.
The culture in the U.S. is diverse. Democracy is under attack in this culture war. Justice should not be coopted, nor should the goal of unity in the church. The quest for beloved community must remain viable in the days ahead.
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