Issue 140 Is there a culture war? August 12, 2013

I believe there is a culture war happening right now. Not just in America, but throughout the entire world. People are fighting (not literally) for their cultural norms, against what is counter to those norms. Let us look at what these cultural battles revolve around.

Treatment of Gays: Yes, one of the biggest battles in the culture war is how a society treats its homosexual populations. Many societies in general suppress these individuals or have a cultural norm that tolerates them, but then they are expected to marry and have children anyway. In America, the treatment of this community along with transgendered, and other groups who challenge the traditional male/female sexual roles has garnered many conflicts. At this point however, Gay members of American society, with their compatriots are not just tolerated, but have in many areas of the country become accepted. This is a good thing as they after all are people to and what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. But there are still those who are squeamish when people of this community and their allies in the bisexual and transgender community challenge traditional forms of dress. In other words, some people don't like it when a guy tries to look too feminine or a girl too masculine. However, dress code battles are a non-issue and thus I personally do not care if that battle is lost. So long as you cover your privates and maintain decency (no sex in public, which includes straight people to) then I really do not have a problem.

Marriage: This is mainly an issue in countries that have traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Groups like the Gay community want to redefine marriage to allow gay marriage. There are also those who want polygamy and its associated forms such as one woman with a number of men, or even women and men being married to multiple other woman and men at the same time, even if not with each other. Legally, gay marriage is winning irrespective of the fact that marriage is a religious sacrament that the U.S. Constitution forbids by way of keeping government out of the faith based institutions. So this battle has yet to reach its ugly head when those who want government to return what belongs to faith and those who want all the governmental benefits of marriage collide. How it works out is anyone’s question as traditional faith and religion erode.

Religion: Religion is also apart of this culture war. People are in general faithful, but are not religious. They generally do not attend church, but will still believe in God. Even the non-believers categorize as being spiritual, but not faithful. The churches are trying to get their congregations back into the pews, but they are having trouble. Pope Francis has helped bring many Catholics back into the fold with his powers of persuasion and humility as he attempts to fix the wrongs in the church, but he faces an uphill battle. Other faiths are not so lucky and face more obstacles. Some institutions turn to preaching hatred about being disadvantaged and blame others for their plights to maintain a congregation, which of course contradicts Jesus’ and Gods teachings (Christian Churches in general). Faith based institutions want their congregations to come back and they are trying things like rock'n roll and other ideas to make church exciting and fresh whilst keeping the faith. But religion will still struggle on until it is needed once again.

Traditional Values: The values of hard work, thrift, compassion and love are also apart of the culture war. Certain values are timeless, but people who seek to change the world around them are rejecting these traditional norms in favor of whatever they deem more important socially. So compassion may give way to barbarism in respect to treating those who find themselves in the poor house. They may blame the person for being in the situation that their in as a stereotype over helping them out in their time of need. Hard work has taken a back seat to the quick fix, as people want short cuts to success of which there are none. People don't save their money so as to save it for when it is really needed, for they want self gratification. Even love has devolved in some instances to quick sex and pleasure as an escape from reality. However, these values while old help protect us and maintain us in our times of need and are compatible with any and every change society decides to make. If we followed these old school traditions which are really morals on how to be successful, be a good person and maintaining a successful relationship with the ones you love, then maybe we would have a few less problems than we do now.

Conclusion: A culture war does not discriminate, and every society is going through it. Some may be dealing with issues in their culture that confound outsiders, while others face cultural battles on a smaller scale with things that other people take for granted. I cannot hope to discuss them all here as I am only capable of looking at the larger scope of this usually non-violent war and mainly through an American lens. But if you feel your countries values are slipping away causing your fellow people to become unrecognizable, know that you are not alone. Everyone knows that change is inevitable, but what kind of change is really up to us and our fellow countrymen to decide.