Culture War

This time the culture war, thankfully, is not a bloody one [referring to the Civil War].  That makes it no less a war that will, in the end, yield a victor and a loser.  The two ideas struggling for supremacy in society today cannot coexist.  One needs to dominate. What are these two ideas?

Reduced to their simplest elements, one idea claims that public adherence to biblical values and acceptance of traditional godly direction are essential for the continued existence of this country.  The opposing view is that such religion, while perhaps laudable for individuals, is an impediment to progress in the public arena.

What do I believe is meant by the phrase “culture war”?  Author Russell Kirk was once asked the source of humankind’s many cultures.  His reply was that they originally came from cults.  While the word “cult” has not taken on a negative connotation, it originally meant a joining together for worship — that is, the attempt of people to commune with a transcendent power.  Therefore, when we say that people are unified by a common culture, what we really mean is that they share the same general view of God and His expectations.  Conversely, when we speak of a culture war, we are referring to a great rift over the issue of God.  What does this have to do with most Americans?  The role of God in society is somehow similar to that of sewers, telephone lines and gas pipes.  We don’t see them running invisibly beneath our streets.  We seldom even think about them.  However, their sudden removal would dramatically and horribly impact our lives.  Likewise, we never used to think about the invisible structure of morality and logic that lay reassuringly beneath our culture.  Now, however, it is being ripped up.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, America's Real War, p.45-46