Everyone has heard of the supposed culture war. As with the "Gay Agenda", I had largely discounted it as a fundraising rallying cry for the far right and their fundamentalist mullahs. Scalia's dissent in the Texas sodomy case and Pat Robertson offensive prayer offensive have recently changed my thinking.
I think that the right wing's KulturKampf is a response to our refusing to hide in closets any more. As gays and lesbians began demanding our constitutional rights, our rightful place in society and plain old respect, the right wing joined the battle to deny us our due. Fortunately, I think they're fighting a losing battle.
Its only been after the response to the recent Supreme Court decision that I've decided that this culture war may be more real than I thought. Not only is it more real than I thought, but as a gay man I'm feeling like I've already been drafted to fight in it.
So what do you think? Is the culture war for real? Are you a part of it?
Full Version: The Culture War
Well W. raised @ least $7 MILLLION in Texas in just the past two DAYS if that makes you feel any better. 
Money has been doing the talking since he took office BABY!
[ July 20, 2003, 01:01 PM: Message edited by: HornFan ]
Money has been doing the talking since he took office BABY![ July 20, 2003, 01:01 PM: Message edited by: HornFan ]
As far as I am concerned, the Culture War was launched by Ms. Anita Bryant in 1977, with a renewed offensive begun by Mr. Patrick Buchanan in 1992.
I do believe there is a Culture War, but far from being the aggressors, we are the victims in it. The problem basically stems from a core group of religious believers whose basic concept of "moral" life was the same concept most Americans had for years. Then, beginning with the 60s "free-love" generation, society began to move away from that concept, and there are a whole heck of a lot of people who are freaked out by that. A group of "religious" leaders realized the political power of such a reaction and harnessed it. Now they are using it to try and force society to accept a model of civilized life from the 1950s, and I think that's a losing battle.
The changes made in America since the 1960s (really a continuation of changes throughout our history) are simply part of a revelation of human life as it is really lived - not as we all covered it up for years. There really is infidelity, and substance abuse, and domestic violence, and bad marriages and homosexuality, it's just we're more open about it now (and in some cases, a la Jerry Springer, a little too open). We can't get this specific genie back in the bottle, so society has to adapt to the break down of our cultural conventions (e.g., everybody is straight and destined for a marriage until death) and find new and better ways of living our lives freely, while building a stable society.
It is during that adaptation that groups like the "Christian" Right always rise up - during the Industrial age a century ago the same exact thing happened with the Temperance movement - they pointed to alcohol as the evil that was corrupting society - for today's groups it is homosexuals (with feminists thrown in for good measure).
The good news is these political movements are condemned from the start - it's like trying to stop a tidal wave with a Swiffer mop. The bad news is these movements can make life miserable until they die their natural deaths - and we can already see when the anti-gay movement will die - right around 25 years from now when the current crop of young people really take over.
I do believe there is a Culture War, but far from being the aggressors, we are the victims in it. The problem basically stems from a core group of religious believers whose basic concept of "moral" life was the same concept most Americans had for years. Then, beginning with the 60s "free-love" generation, society began to move away from that concept, and there are a whole heck of a lot of people who are freaked out by that. A group of "religious" leaders realized the political power of such a reaction and harnessed it. Now they are using it to try and force society to accept a model of civilized life from the 1950s, and I think that's a losing battle.
The changes made in America since the 1960s (really a continuation of changes throughout our history) are simply part of a revelation of human life as it is really lived - not as we all covered it up for years. There really is infidelity, and substance abuse, and domestic violence, and bad marriages and homosexuality, it's just we're more open about it now (and in some cases, a la Jerry Springer, a little too open). We can't get this specific genie back in the bottle, so society has to adapt to the break down of our cultural conventions (e.g., everybody is straight and destined for a marriage until death) and find new and better ways of living our lives freely, while building a stable society.
It is during that adaptation that groups like the "Christian" Right always rise up - during the Industrial age a century ago the same exact thing happened with the Temperance movement - they pointed to alcohol as the evil that was corrupting society - for today's groups it is homosexuals (with feminists thrown in for good measure).
The good news is these political movements are condemned from the start - it's like trying to stop a tidal wave with a Swiffer mop. The bad news is these movements can make life miserable until they die their natural deaths - and we can already see when the anti-gay movement will die - right around 25 years from now when the current crop of young people really take over.
CPT_Doom, I wholeheartedly agree with you. And there's one more thing I'd like to add. The Christian Conservative will vote for the incumbent Republican NO MATTER how bad things have gotten with the economy, the war, the deficit, etc... We don't know if this is true with Gays and Democrats because when the Dems are in power, things have gone well. One more observation. The GOP takes Christian Right for granted. They always get their vote, but what has the GOP done for them? Reagan was elected in 1980 and we still have Roe v. Wade on the books.
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DC-Buckeye:
The GOP takes Christian Right for granted. They always get their vote, but what has the GOP done for them? Reagan was elected in 1980 and we still have Roe v. Wade on the books.
More like it knows how to push their buttons like a vending machine. Much of the "flock" is so sheeplike that they'll believe (or at least accept) the emptiest promises because they sound better than an honest no from the "goat" side. Been there, done that. The GOP takes Christian Right for granted. They always get their vote, but what has the GOP done for them? Reagan was elected in 1980 and we still have Roe v. Wade on the books.
[ July 22, 2003, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: danimal ]
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