Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America by James Davison Hunter

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Abortion, school prayer, gay rights, gun politics and many more are all a part of the list of controversies that divide our country. A culture war is a conflict between groups with different ideals, beliefs, and issues. James Davison Hunter’s book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, shows that these issues “are not isolated from one another but are part of a fabric of conflict which constitutes nothing short of a struggle over the meaning of America. Unlike the religious and cultural conflict that historically divided the nation, the contemporary culture war is fought along new and, in many ways, unfamiliar lines” (Hunter). Hunter argued that two definable polarities existed in the major issues of the war. The new shift in cultural acceptance of the times has changed the culture war. Many Americans argue that “there is a religious war going on in this country, a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself, for this war is for the soul of America” (Fiorina). However, some argue that the culture war is only based on small differences between the Democrats and Republicans. The issue at hand is how divided the American public is today and how much time is focused on this polarization. This division is not just a small difference in parties, but more a difference in moral and religious issues.
One of the major issues in the cultural war is the idea of abortion. The Republican Party supports the human life amendment while opposing abortion funding. They “assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed [upon]” (Republican Party Platform ). The Republican Party also strongly promotes adoption and abst...

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...w the issue regarding their beliefs from religion. The culture war of America is always in view for the population. So much time is focused on the issue at hand instead of the actual progress being made. The moral differences between parties take preference over solving the issue. The culture war is not an issue of cultural differences, but more of religious and moral differences.

References
Bowman, Carl Desportes. "The Myth of a Non-Polarized America." 2011. The Hedgehog: Critical Reflection on Contemporary Culture. 1 March 2014.
"Democratic Party Platform." 2013. On The Issues. 27 February 2014.
Fiorina, Morris P., Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope. Culture war?. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
Hunter, James Davison. Culture Wars: The Stuggle to Define America. NewYork: BasicBooks, 1991.
"Republican Party Platform ." 2013. On The Issues. 28 February 2014.

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