Culture
Wars
Volume 1
Roger Chapman,
Editor
CultuRE
WaRs
An EncyclopEdiA of
issuEs, ViEwpoints, And VoicEs
M
.E.Sharpe
Armonk, New York
London, England
M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
80 Business Park Drive Armonk, NY 10504 © 2010 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holders.
Cover photos (clockwise from upper left) provided by Getty Images and the following: Katja Heinemann; Terry Ashe/Time & Life Pictures; Mark Leffingwell/AFP; Michael Springer; Karen Bleier/AFP.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Culture wars : an encyclopedia of issues, viewpoints, and voices / Roger Chapman, editor. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7656-1761-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Culture conflict—Encyclopedias. 2. Politics and culture—Encyclopedias. 3. Social problems— Encyclopedias. 4. Social conflict—Encyclopedias. 5. Ethnic conflict—Encyclopedias.
I. Chapman, Roger. HM1121.C85 2010
306.0973’03—dc22 2009011925
Printed and bound in the United States
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z 39.48.1984. CW (c) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Publisher: Myron E. Sharpe
Vice President and Director of New Product Development: Donna Sanzone Vice President and Production Director: Carmen Chetti
Executive Development Editor: Jeff Hacker Project Manager: Angela Piliouras Program Coordinator: Cathleen Prisco
Assistant Editor: Alison Morretta Text Design and Cover Design: Jesse Sanchez
This encyclopedia is dedicated to my wife and daughters,
Deborah, Christine, and Liz
vii
Topic Finder ... xv
Contributors ...xxiii
Introduction: Culture Wars—
Rhetoric and Reality ... xxvii
Volume 1
Abortion ...1
Abu Ghraib and Gitmo ...3
Academic Bill of Rights ...5
Academic Freedom ...5
Adler, Mortimer J. ...7
Affirmative Action ...8
Afrocentrism ...10
Age Discrimination ...11
Agnew, Spiro T. ...12
AIDS ...13
Alexander, Jane...14
Ali, Muhammad ...15
American Century ...16
American Civil Liberties Union ...17
American Civil Religion ...20
American Exceptionalism ...21
American Indian Movement ...22
Americans with Disabilities Act ...24
Androgyny ...24
Angelou, Maya ...25
Animal Rights...26
Anti-Intellectualism ...27
Anti-Semitism ...28
Arnold, Ron ...29
Arrow, Tre ...30
Aryan Nations ...31
Atwater, Lee ...31
Automobile Safety ...32
Baez, Joan ...34
Bankruptcy Reform ...34
Barbie Doll ...36
Battle of Seattle ...37
Beauty Pageants ...38
Behe, Michael J. ...39
Bell Curve, The ...40
Bennett, William J. ...41
Biafra, Jello ...41
Biotech Revolution ...42
Birth Control ...43
Black Panther Party ...44
Black Radical Congress ...45
Blackface ...46
Bob Jones University ...47
Bono ...48
Book Banning ...49
Boy Scouts of America ...49
Bradley, Bill ...50
Brock, David ...51
Brokaw, Tom ...52
Brown, Helen Gurley ...52
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ...53
Bryant, Anita ...55
Buchanan, Pat ...56
Buckley, William F., Jr. ...57
Budenz, Louis F. ...58
Bullard, Robert D. ...59
Bunche, Ralph ...60
Bush Family ...60
Busing, School ...64
Byrd, Robert C. ...65
Campaign Finance Reform ...67
Campolo, Anthony “Tony” ...68
Canada ...69
Capital Punishment ...69
Carson, Rachel ...71
Carter, Jimmy ...72
viii Contents
Catholic Church ...74
Censorship ...76
Central Intelligence Agency ...77
Chambers, Whittaker ...79
Charter Schools ...79
Chávez, César ...80
Cheney Family ...81
Chicago Seven ...83
Chick, Jack ...84
China ...85
Chisholm, Shirley ...86
Chomsky, Noam ...86
Christian Coalition ...88
Christian Radio ...89
Christian Reconstructionism ...90
Christmas ...91
Church and State ...92
Churchill, Ward ...92
Civil Rights Movement ...93
Clinton, Bill ...96
Clinton, Hillary ...97
Clinton Impeachment ...99
Cold War ...100
Colson, Chuck ...104
Columbus Day ...105
Comic Books ...106
Comic Strips ...107
Commager, Henry Steele ...108
Common Cause ...109
Commoner, Barry ...109
Communists and Communism ...110
Comparable Worth ...113
Compassionate Conservatism ...113
Confederate Flag ...114
Conspiracy Theories ...115
Contemporary Christian Music ...117
Contract with America ...118
Corporate Welfare...119
Coulter, Ann ...119
Counterculture ...120
Country Music ...122
Creationism and Intelligent Design ...123
Cronkite, Walter ...126
Cuba ...126
Culture Jamming ...127
Dean, Howard ...129
Dean, James ...130
Dean, John ...130
Deconstructionism ...131
DeLay, Tom ...132
Deloria, Vine, Jr. ...133
Demjanjuk, John ...134
Democratic Party ...135
Diversity Training ...137
Dobson, James ...138
Donahue, Phil ...139
Douglas, William O. ...140
Dr. Phil ...140
Drudge Report ...141
Drug Testing ...142
D’Souza, Dinesh ...143
Du Bois, W.E.B. ...144
Dukakis, Michael ...145
Duke, David ...145
Dworkin, Andrea ...146
Dylan, Bob ...147
Earth Day ...148
Ecoterrorism ...148
Education Reform ...150
Ehrenreich, Barbara ...152
Eisenhower, Dwight D. ...153
Election of 2000 ...153
Election of 2008 ...156
Endangered Species Act ...159
English as the Official Language ...160
Enola Gay Exhibit ...161
Environmental Movement ...162
Equal Rights Amendment ...164
Evangelicalism ...165
Executive Compensation ...167
Factory Farms ...168
Faith-Based Programs ...169
Falwell, Jerry ...170
Family Values ...171
Farrakhan, Louis ...172
Federal Budget Deficit ...173
Federal Communications Commission ...174
Contents ix
Feminism, Second-Wave ...177
Feminism, Third-Wave ...178
Ferraro, Geraldine ...179
Flag Desecration ...180
Fleiss, Heidi ...181
Flynt, Larry ...182
Focus on the Family ...183
Fonda, Jane ...184
Food and Drug Administration ...185
Ford, Gerald ...187
Foreman, Dave ...188
Forests, Parklands, and Federal Wilderness ...189
Foucault, Michel ...191
Founding Fathers ...192
France ...194
Frank, Barney ...195
Franken, Al ...195
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial ...196
Freedom of Information Act ...197
Friedan, Betty ...198
Friedman, Milton ...199
Fundamentalism, Religious ...200
Fur ...202
Galbraith, John Kenneth ...203
Gangs ...203
Gay Capital ...204
Gay Rights Movement ...205
Gays in Popular Culture ...207
Gays in the Military ...208
Gender-Inclusive Language ...210
Generations and Generational Conflict ...211
Genetically Modified Foods ...213
Gibson, Mel ...214
Gilmore, Gary ...215
Gingrich, Newt ...216
Ginsberg, Allen ...217
Global Warming ...218
Globalization ...220
Goetz, Bernhard ...222
Goldwater, Barry ...223
González, Elián...224
Gore, Al ...225
Graffiti ...226
Graham, Billy ...227
Great Books ...228
Great Society ...230
Guardian Angels ...231
Gun Control ...231
Guthrie, Woody, and Arlo Guthrie ...233
Haley, Alex ...235
Hall, Gus ...235
Hargis, Billy ...236
Harrington, Michael ...237
Hart, Gary ...237
Harvey, Paul ...238
Hate Crimes ...239
Hauerwas, Stanley ...240
Hay, Harry ...241
Hayden, Tom ...242
Health Care ...242
Heavy Metal ...245
Hefner, Hugh ...246
Heller, Joseph ...247
Helms, Jesse ...248
Heritage Foundation ...249
Hightower, Jim ...250
Hill, Anita ...251
Hill, Julia “Butterfly” ...252
Hillsdale College ...253
Hiroshima and Nagasaki ...253
Hispanic Americans...255
Hiss, Alger ...256
Hoffman, Abbie ...257
Hollywood Ten ...257
Holocaust ...258
Homeschooling ...260
hooks, bell ...261
Hoover, J. Edgar ...262
Horowitz, David ...264
Horton, Willie ...264
Human Rights ...265
Humphrey, Hubert H. ...266
Hunter, James Davison ...268
Huntington, Samuel P. ...269
Hurricane Katrina ...269
Hutchins, Robert M. ...271
Illegal Immigrants ...272
x Contents
Indian Casinos ...274
Indian Sport Mascots ...276
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ....276
Internet ...277
Iran-Contra Affair ...278
Irvine, Reed ...279
Israel ...280
Jackson, Jesse ...282
Jackson, Michael ...283
Japan ...284
Jehovah’s Witnesses ...284
Jesus People Movement ...285
John Birch Society ...286
Johnson, Lyndon B. ...287
Jorgensen, Christine ...288
Judicial Wars ...288
Kennedy Family ...292
Kerouac, Jack ...294
Kerry, John ...295
Kevorkian, Jack ...297
Keyes, Alan ...298
King, Billie Jean ...299
King, Martin Luther, Jr. ...299
King, Rodney ...301
Kinsey, Alfred ...302
Klein, Naomi ...303
Koop, C. Everett ...304
Kristol, Irving, and Bill Kristol ...305
Krugman, Paul ...306
Kubrick, Stanley ...307
Kushner, Tony ...307
Kwanzaa ...308
Kyoto Protocol ...308
La Follette, Robert, Jr. ...310
La Raza Unida ...310
Labor Unions ...311
LaHaye, Tim, and Beverly LaHaye ...312
Lapin, Daniel ...314
LaRouche, Lyndon H., Jr. ...315
Lear, Norman ...315
Leary, Timothy ...316
Lee, Spike ...317
LeMay, Curtis ...318
Leopold, Aldo ...319
Lesbians ...320
Lewis, Bernard ...321
Liddy, G. Gordon ...321
Limbaugh, Rush ...322
Literature, Film, and Drama ...324
Lott, Trent ...326
Love Canal ...328
Loving, Richard, and Mildred Loving ...328
Lynching ...329
Volume 2
MacKinnon, Catharine ...332
Madonna ...332
Mailer, Norman ...334
Malcolm X ...335
Manson, Marilyn ...336
Mapplethorpe, Robert ...336
Marriage Names ...337
Marxism ...338
McCain, John ...339
McCarthy, Eugene ...340
McCarthy, Joseph ...341
McCarthyism ...342
McCloskey, Deirdre ...345
McGovern, George ...345
McIntire, Carl ...347
McLuhan, Marshall ...348
McVeigh, Timothy ...349
Mead, Margaret ...350
Media Bias ...350
Medical Malpractice ...352
Medical Marijuana ...353
Medved, Michael ...354
Men’s Movement ...354
Mexico ...356
Microsoft ...357
Migrant Labor ...358
Militia Movement ...359
Milk, Harvey ...360
Millett, Kate ...361
Million Man March ...362
Miranda Rights ...363
Contents xi
Montana Freemen ...365
Moore, Michael ...365
Moore, Roy S. ...366
Moral Majority ...367
Morgan, Robin ...368
Morrison, Toni ...369
Mothers Against Drunk Driving ...369
Motion Picture Association of America ...370
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick ...371
Ms. ...372
Multicultural Conservatism ...373
Multiculturalism and Ethnic Studies ...373
Mumford, Lewis ...374
Murdoch, Rupert ...375
Murrow, Edward R. ...376
Muslim Americans ...377
My Lai Massacre ...378
Nader, Ralph ...380
Nation, The ...381
Nation of Islam ...382
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People ...383
National Endowment for the Arts ...384
National Endowment for the Humanities ...387
National Organization for Women ...388
National Public Radio ...389
National Review ...390
National Rifle Association ...391
Nelson, Willie ...392
Neoconservatism ...393
New Age Movement ...395
New Deal ...397
New Journalism ...398
New Left ...398
New York Times, The ...399
Niebuhr, Reinhold ...402
Nixon, Richard ...403
Norquist, Grover ...405
North, Oliver ...406
Not Dead Yet ...407
Nuclear Age ...408
Obama, Barack ...411
Obesity Epidemic ...413
Occupational Safety ...414
O’Connor, Sandra Day ...415
O’Hair, Madalyn Murray ...416
O.J. Simpson Trial ...417
Operation Rescue ...418
Oppenheimer, J. Robert ...419
O’Reilly, Bill ...420
Outing ...421
Packwood, Bob ...422
Paglia, Camille ...422
Palin, Sarah ...423
Parks, Rosa ...424
Penn, Sean ...425
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ....426
Perot, H. Ross ...427
Phelps, Fred ...429
Philadelphia, Mississippi ...429
Pipes, Richard, and Daniel Pipes ...430
Planned Parenthood ...431
Podhoretz, Norman ...432
Police Abuse ...433
Political Correctness ...434
Pornography ...436
Postmodernism ...438
Premillennial Dispensationalism ...439
Presidential Pardons ...440
Prison Reform ...441
Privacy Rights ...443
Privatization ...444
Progressive Christians Uniting ...445
Promise Keepers ...446
Public Broadcasting Service ...447
Punk Rock ...449
Quayle, Dan ...451
Race ...452
Racial Profiling ...453
Rand, Ayn ...454
Rap Music ...455
Rather, Dan ...456
Reagan, Ronald ...458
Record Warning Labels ...459
Red and Blue States ...460
Redford, Robert ...461
Redneck ...462
xii Contents
Rehnquist, William H...464
Relativism, Moral ...465
Religious Right ...466
Reparations, Japanese Internment ...467
Republican Party ...468
Revisionist History ...470
Right to Counsel ...471
Right to Die ...472
Robertson, Pat ...474
Rock and Roll ...475
Rockwell, George Lincoln ...477
Rockwell, Norman ...477
Rodman, Dennis ...478
Roe v. Wade (1973) ...479
Rosenberg, Julius, and Ethel Rosenberg ...480
Rove, Karl ...480
Ruby Ridge Incident ...482
Rudolph, Eric ...483
Rusher, William A. ...483
Ryan, George ...484
Said, Edward ...486
Same-Sex Marriage ...486
Sanders, Bernie ...488
Saudi Arabia ...488
Schaeffer, Francis ...490
Schiavo, Terri ...490
Schlafly, Phyllis ...492
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. ...492
School of the Americas ...493
School Prayer ...494
School Shootings ...496
School Vouchers ...497
Schwarzenegger, Arnold ...498
Science Wars ...499
Secular Humanism ...501
Seeger, Pete ...502
September 11 ...502
September 11 Memorial ...505
Serrano, Andres ...506
Sex Education ...507
Sex Offenders ...509
Sexual Assault ...510
Sexual Harassment ...511
Sexual Revolution ...512
Sharpton, Al ...513
Sheen, Fulton J. ...515
Shelley, Martha ...515
Shepard, Matthew ...516
Shock Jocks ...517
Sider, Ron ...518
Silent Majority ...518
Simpsons, The ...519
Smoking in Public ...520
Socarides, Charles ...521
Social Security ...521
Sodomy Laws ...523
Sokal Affair ...524
Soros, George...525
Southern Baptist Convention ...525
Soviet Union and Russia ...526
Sowell, Thomas ...529
Speech Codes ...530
Spock, Benjamin ...531
Springsteen, Bruce ...532
Starr, Kenneth ...533
Stay-at-Home Mothers ...534
Steinbeck, John ...535
Steinem, Gloria ...535
Stem-Cell Research ...536
Stern, Howard ...538
Stewart, Jon ...538
Stone, Oliver ...539
Stonewall Rebellion ...540
Strategic Defense Initiative ...540
Strauss, Leo ...541
Structuralism and Post-Structuralism ...542
Student Conservatives ...543
Students for a Democratic Society ...544
Summers, Lawrence ...546
Supply-Side Economics ...546
Symbionese Liberation Army ...547
Taft, Robert A. ...549
Talk Radio ...549
Tax Reform ...550
Televangelism ...552
Teller, Edward ...553
Ten Commandments ...554
Terkel, Studs ...555
Contents xiii
Thanksgiving Day ...556
Think Tanks ...557
Third Parties ...559
Thomas, Clarence ...561
Thompson, Hunter S. ...562
Three Mile Island Accident ...563
Thurmond, Strom ...563
Till, Emmett ...564
Tobacco Settlements ...565
Tort Reform ...566
Transgender Movement ...567
Truman, Harry S...568
Turner, Ted ...569
Twenty-Second Amendment ...570
Unabomber ...572
United Nations ...572
USA PATRIOT Act ...574
Ventura, Jesse ...576
Victimhood ...576
Vidal, Gore ...577
Vietnam Veterans Against the War ...578
Vietnam Veterans Memorial ...579
Vietnam War ...580
Vigilantism ...582
Voegelin, Eric ...583
Voting Rights Act ...584
Waco Siege ...586
Wall Street Journal, The ...587
Wallace, George ...588
Wallis, Jim ...589
Wal-Mart ...589
Walt Disney Company...591
War on Drugs ...592
War on Poverty ...593
War Powers Act ...594
War Protesters ...595
War Toys ...597
Warhol, Andy ...598
Warren, Earl ...599
Warren, Rick ...601
Washington Times, The ...601
Watergate ...602
Watt, James ...603
Watts and Los Angeles Riots,
1965 and 1992 ...604
Wayne, John ...605
Wealth Gap ...606
Weekly Standard, The ...607
Welfare Reform ...608
Wellstone, Paul ...609
West, Cornel ...610
Weyrich, Paul M. ...611
Whistleblowers ...612
White, Reggie ...613
White Supremacists ...614
Wildmon, Donald ...616
Will, George ...617
Williams, William Appleman ...618
Wilson, Edmund ...618
Winfrey, Oprah ...619
Wolf, Naomi ...620
Wolfe, Tom ...621
Women in the Military ...622
Women’s Studies ...623
Woodward, Bob...624
World ...625
World Council of Churches...625
World War II Memorial ...626
Wounded Knee Incident ...627
Young, Neil ...628
Zappa, Frank ...629
Zero Tolerance ...629
Zinn, Howard ...630
Bibliography ...633
Index ...I-1
xv
Activists and Advocates Alexander, Jane Ali, Muhammad Arnold, Ron Arrow, Tre Baez, Joan Behe, Michael J. Bono Bryant, Anita Budenz, Louis F. Bullard, Robert D. Carson, Rachel Chávez, César Chicago Seven Churchill, Ward Commoner, Barry Deloria, Vine, Jr. Dworkin, Andrea Farrakhan, Louis Fonda, Jane Foreman, Dave Founding Fathers Friedan, Betty Hay, Harry Hayden, Tom
Hill, Julia “Butterfly” Hoffman, Abbie Hollywood Ten hooks, bell Jackson, Jesse Jorgensen, Christine Kerry, John Kevorkian, Jack King, Billie Jean King, Martin Luther, Jr. LaRouche, Lyndon H., Jr. Leary, Timothy
Leopold, Aldo
Loving, Richard, and Mildred Loving MacKinnon, Catharine Malcolm X Milk, Harvey Millett, Kate Morgan, Robin Nader, Ralph
O’Hair, Madalyn Murray Parks, Rosa
Rockwell, George Lincoln Schlafly, Phyllis Sharpton, Al Shelley, Martha Soros, George Steinem, Gloria War Protesters Weyrich, Paul M. Wildmon, Donald Wolf, Naomi
Artists, Musicians, Athletes, and Entertainers Alexander, Jane Ali, Muhammad Biafra, Jello Bono Bryant, Anita Dean, James Dylan, Bob Fonda, Jane Franken, Al Gibson, Mel
Guthrie, Woody, and Arlo Guthrie
Jackson, Michael King, Billie Jean
Kubrick, Stanley Kushner, Tony Lear, Norman Lee, Spike Madonna Manson, Marilyn Mapplethorpe, Robert Moore, Michael Nelson, Willie Norquist, Grover Penn, Sean Redford, Robert Rockwell, Norman Rodman, Dennis Schwarzenegger, Arnold Seeger, Pete Serrano, Andres Springsteen, Bruce Stone, Oliver Ventura, Jesse Warhol, Andy Wayne, John White, Reggie Winfrey, Oprah Young, Neil Zappa, Frank
Arts, Music, and Culture
Barbie Doll Beauty Pageants Blackface Comic Strips Contemporary Christian Music Counterculture Country Music Culture Jamming
Topic Finder
xvi Topic Finder
Gays in Popular Culture Graffiti
Great Books Heavy Metal Hispanic Americans Hollywood Ten Indian Sport Mascots Literature, Film, and Drama Media Bias
Multicultural Conservatism Multiculturalism and Ethnic Studies New Journalism Pornography Postmodernism Punk Rock Rap Music
Record Warning Labels Red and Blue States Redneck
Rock and Roll War Toys
Countries and Locations
Canada China Cuba France
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Israel
Japan Love Canal Mexico
Philadelphia, Mississippi Red and Blue States Saudi Arabia
Soviet Union and Russia
Criminals, Accusers, and Victims Chambers, Whittaker Demjanjuk, John Fleiss, Heidi Gilmore, Gary Goetz, Bernhard González, Elián Hill, Anita Hiss, Alger Horton, Willie Kevorkian, Jack King, Rodney McVeigh, Timothy
Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Rudolph, Eric Schiavo, Terri Shepard, Matthew Till, Emmett Unabomber
Culture Critics, Social
Commentators, and Academics Adler, Mortimer J. Behe, Michael J. Bennett, William J. Buchanan, Pat Buckley, William F., Jr. Bullard, Robert D. Chomsky, Noam Churchill, Ward
Commager, Henry Steele Commoner, Barry D’Souza, Dinesh Du Bois, W.E.B. Dworkin, Andrea Foucault, Michel Friedan, Betty Friedman, Milton Galbraith, John Kenneth Harrington, Michael Hart, Gary
Hauerwas, Stanley Horowitz, David Hunter, James Davison Huntington, Samuel P. Hutchins, Robert M. Irvine, Reed
Kinsey, Alfred Klein, Naomi
Kristol, Irving, and Bill Kristol Krugman, Paul MacKinnon, Catharine McCloskey, Deirdre McLuhan, Marshall Mead, Margaret Millett, Kate
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick Mumford, Lewis
Niebuhr, Reinhold Norquist, Grover Paglia, Camille
Pipes, Richard, and Daniel Pipes Podhoretz, Norman Said, Edward Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. Socarides, Charles Sowell, Thomas Spock, Benjamin Strauss, Leo Summers, Lawrence Voegelin, Eric West, Cornel Weyrich, Paul M. Wildmon, Donald Will, George
Williams, William Appleman Wilson, Edmund
Wolf, Naomi Zinn, Howard
Education and Educational Issues
Academic Bill of Rights
Academic Freedom Anti-Intellectualism Charter Schools Diversity Training Education Reform Gender-Inclusive Language Great Books Homeschooling
Multiculturalism and Ethnic Studies
Political Correctness Revisionist History School Prayer
Topic Finder xvii School Shootings School Vouchers Sex Education Speech Codes Student Conservatives
Events, Periods, and Incidents Abu Ghraib and Gitmo
Battle of Seattle Christmas
Civil Rights Movement Clinton Impeachment Cold War Columbus Day Earth Day Election of 2000 Election of 2008
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Holocaust
Hurricane Katrina Iran-Contra Affair Kwanzaa
Love Canal
Million Man March My Lai Massacre New Deal Nuclear Age O.J. Simpson Trial Ruby Ridge Incident September 11 Sokal Affair
Stonewall Rebellion Thanksgiving Day
Three Mile Island Accident Vietnam War
Waco Siege Watergate
Watts and Los Angeles Riots, 1965 and 1992
Wounded Knee Incident
Government Programs and Policies
Affirmative Action Bankruptcy Reform Book Banning
Busing, School
Campaign Finance Reform Capital Punishment Censorship
Compassionate Conservatism English as the Official Language Faith-Based Programs
Federal Budget Deficit
Forests, Parklands, and Federal Wilderness Globalization Great Society Gun Control Health Care Human Rights Immigration Policy Kyoto Protocol New Deal Occupational Safety Presidential Pardons Prison Reform
Record Warning Labels
Reparations, Japanese Internment School Prayer
School Vouchers Social Security
Strategic Defense Initiative Supply-Side Economics Tax Reform Tobacco Settlements War on Drugs War on Poverty Welfare Reform
Holidays and Observances
Christmas Earth Day Columbus Day Thanksgiving Day Kwanzaa
Ideologies and Movements
Afrocentrism American Century American Civil Religion American Exceptionalism
Anti-Intellectualism Anti-Semitism
Christian Reconstructionism Civil Rights Movement Communists and Communism Compassionate Conservatism Conspiracy Theories
Creationism and Intelligent Design Deconstructionism Ecoterrorism Environmental Movement Evangelicalism Fundamentalism, Religious Globalization Homeschooling Jesus People Movement Marxism
McCarthyism Militia Movement
Multicultural Conservatism Multiculturalism and Ethnic Studies Neoconservatism New Left Political Correctness Postmodernism Premillennial Dispensationalism Privatization
Red and Blue States Relativism, Moral Religious Right Revisionist History Secular Humanism Silent Majority
Structuralism and Structuralism Transgender Movement Victimhood
Journalists, Writers, and Media Figures
Adler, Mortimer J.
Angelou, Maya Bennett, William J. Brock, David
xviii Topic Finder
Brokaw, Tom
Brown, Helen Gurley Buchanan, Pat Buckley, William F., Jr. Chick, Jack Coulter, Ann Cronkite, Walter Donahue, Phil Dr. Phil Ehrenreich, Barbara Falwell, Jerry Flynt, Larry Ginsberg, Allen Haley, Alex Harvey, Paul Hefner, Hugh Heller, Joseph Hightower, Jim hooks, bell Horowitz, David Irvine, Reed Kerouac, Jack Klein, Naomi
Kristol, Irving, and Bill Kristol
LaHaye, Tim, and Beverly LaHaye Lapin, Daniel Lee, Spike Lewis, Bernard Liddy, G. Gordon Limbaugh, Rush Mailer, Norman McIntire, Carl Medved, Michael Moore, Michael Morgan, Robin Morrison, Toni Murdoch, Rupert Murrow, Edward R. O’Reilly, Bill Podhoretz, Norman Rand, Ayn Rather, Dan Robertson, Pat Rusher, William A. Sheen, Fulton J. Shelley, Martha Steinbeck, John Steinem, Gloria Stern, Howard Stewart, Jon Stone, Oliver Terkel, Studs Thompson, Hunter S. Turner, Ted Vidal, Gore Wallis, Jim Warren, Rick Wildmon, Donald Will, George Winfrey, Oprah Wolfe, Tom Woodward, Bob
Laws, Legal Issues, and Court Rulings
Americans with Disabilities
Act
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Contract with America Endangered Species Act Equal Rights Amendment Freedom of Information Act
Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act Judicial Wars Miranda Rights Presidential Pardons Privacy Rights Right to Counsel Right to Die Roe v. Wade (1973) Sodomy Laws Tax Reform Tobacco Settlements Tort Reform Twenty-Second Amendment USA PATRIOT Act
Voting Rights Act War Powers Act Zero Tolerance
Media and Publishing Book Banning Censorship Comic Books Comic Strips Culture Jamming Drudge Report Great Books Hollywood Ten Internet
Literature, Film, and Drama Media Bias
Ms. Nation, The National Review New Journalism New York Times, The Pornography
Record Warning Labels Shock Jocks
Simpsons, The Talk Radio Televangelism
Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, The World
Memorials and Exhibits
Enola Gay Exhibit
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
September 11 Memorial Vietnam Veterans Memorial World War II Memorial
Organizations and Institutions
American Civil Liberties Union American Indian Movement Aryan Nations
Black Panther Party Black Radical Congress Bob Jones University Boy Scouts of America Catholic Church
Topic Finder xix
Central Intelligence Agency Christian Coalition
Common Cause Democratic Party Federal Communications Commission
Focus on the Family
Food and Drug Administration Guardian Angels
Heritage Foundation Hillsdale College Jehovah’s Witnesses Jesus People Movement John Birch Society La Raza Unida Labor Unions Microsoft
Montana Freemen Moral Majority
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Motion Picture Association of America
Nation of Islam
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
National Organization for Women
National Public Radio National Rifle Association Not Dead Yet
Operation Rescue People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Planned Parenthood Progressive Christians Uniting
Promise Keepers
Public Broadcasting System (PBS)
Republican Party School of the Americas
Southern Baptist Convention Students for a Democratic Society
Symbionese Liberation Army Think Tanks
United Nations
Vietnam Veterans Against
the War
Walt Disney Company World Council of Churches
Political and Economic Issues
Bankruptcy Reform Campaign Finance Reform Church and State
Communists and Communism Compassionate Conservatism Corporate Welfare Executive Compensation Factory Farms Globalization Health Care Hispanic Americans Immigration Policy Marxism McCarthyism Migrant Labor Militia Movement Neoconservatism New Left Occupational Safety Political Correctness Presidential Pardons Privatization Silent Majority Social Security Student Conservatives Supply-Side Economics Tax Reform Think Tanks Third Parties Wal-Mart War on Poverty Wealth Gap Welfare Reform Whistleblowers Politicians, Government Officials, and Legal Figures
Agnew, Spiro T. Atwater, Lee Bradley, Bill Bunche, Ralph Byrd, Robert C. Carter, Jimmy Cheney Family Chisholm, Shirley Clinton, Bill Clinton, Hillary Colson, Chuck Dean, Howard Dean, John DeLay, Tom Douglas, William O. Dukakis, Michael Duke, David Eisenhower, Dwight D. Felt, W. Mark Ferraro, Geraldine Ford, Gerald Founding Fathers Frank, Barney Franken, Al Gingrich, Newt Goldwater, Barry Gore, Al Hall, Gus Hart, Gary Hayden, Tom Helms, Jesse Hoover, J. Edgar Humphrey, Hubert H. Jackson, Jesse Johnson, Lyndon B. Kennedy Family Kerry, John Keyes, Alan Koop, C. Everett La Follete, Robert, Jr. LaRouche, Lyndon H., Jr. LeMay, Curtis Liddy, G. Gordon Lott, Trent McCain, John
xx Topic Finder McCarthy, Eugene McCarthy, Joseph McGovern, George Milk, Harvey Mondale, Walter Moore, Roy S.
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick Nader, Ralph
Nixon, Richard North, Oliver Obama, Barack O’Connor, Sandra Day Oppenheimer, J. Robert Packwood, Bob Palin, Sarah Perot, H. Ross Quayle, Dan Reagan, Ronald Rehnquist, William H. Rockwell, George Lincoln Rove, Karl Ryan, George Sanders, Bernie Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. Schwarzenegger, Arnold Starr, Kenneth Summers, Lawrence Taft, Robert A. Teller, Edward Thomas, Clarence Thurmond, Strom Truman, Harry S. Ventura, Jesse Wallace, George Warren, Earl Watt, James Wellstone, Paul
Religion and Religious Issues
Abortion
American Civil Religion Anti-Semitism
Birth Control Bob Jones University Catholic Church Christian Coalition
Christian Radio
Christian Reconstructionism Christmas
Church and State Contemporary Christian Music
Creationism and Intelligent Design
Evangelicalism Faith-Based Programs Family Values
Focus on the Family Fundamentalism, Religious Jehovah’s Witnesses Jesus People Movement Kwanzaa
Moral Majority Muslim Americans Nation of Islam New Age Movement Premillennial Dispensationalism
Progressive Christians Uniting Promise Keepers
Religious Right School Prayer Sex Education
Southern Baptist Convention Televangelism
Ten Commandments World Council of Churches
Religious Figures
Campolo, Anthony “Tony”
Chick, Jack Colson, Chuck Dobson, James Falwell, Jerry Farrakhan, Louis Graham, Billy Hargis, Billy Hauerwas, Stanley King, Martin Luther, Jr. LaHaye, Tim, and Beverly LaHaye Lapin, Daniel Malcolm X McIntire, Carl Niebuhr, Reinhold Phelps, Fred Reed, Ralph Robertson, Pat Sharpton, Al Sheen, Fulton J. Sider, Ron Wallis, Jim Warren, Rick White, Reggie
Science, Medicine, and the Environment Abortion AIDS Biotech Revolution Birth Control Earth Day Environmental Movement Genetically Modified Foods Global Warming Health Care Kyoto Protocol Medical Malpractice Medical Marijuana Nuclear Age Obesity Epidemic Science Wars Stem-Cell Research Strategic Defense Initiative Tobacco Settlements War Toys
Social and Moral Issues Abortion Afrocentrism Age Discrimination AIDS Androgyny Animal Rights Automobile Safety Bell Curve, The Birth Control
Topic Finder xxi
Busing, School Capital Punishment Church and State Comparable Worth Confederate Flag Drug Testing
English as the Official Language Feminism, Second-Wave Feminism, Third-Wave Flag Desecration Fur Gangs Gay Capital
Gay Rights Movement Gays in Popular Culture Gays in the Military Gender-Inclusive Language Generations and Generational Conflict Gun Control Hate Crimes Health Care Illegal Immigrants Immigration Policy Indian Casinos Lesbians Marriage Names Men’s Movement Migrant Labor New Age Movement Not Dead Yet Outing Police Abuse Prison Reform Privacy Rights Race Racial Profiling Relativism, Moral Right to Die Same-Sex Marriage Secular Humanism Sex Education Sex Offenders Sexual Assault Sexual Harassment Sexual Revolution Silent Majority Smoking in Public Social Security Sodomy Laws Stay-at-Home Mothers Transgender Movement Victimhood Vigilantism War on Drugs War on Poverty Welfare Reform White Supremacists Women in the Military Women’s Studies
xxiii
Robert R. Agne Auburn University Holly Alloway
University of Texas, Austin Mahesh Ananth
Indiana University, South Bend Robin Andersen
Fordham University Rebecca Bach Duke University Gary L. Bailey
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Maria T. Baldwin
Bowling Green State University John Balz
University of Chicago Kathleen Barr Texas A&M University Margaret Barrett Independent Scholar Robert Bauman
Washington State University, Tri-Cities
Daniel Béland University of Calgary
Diane Benedic
Denis Diderot University Chip Berlet
Political Research Associates Bradley Best
Buena Vista University R. Matthew Beverlin University of Kansas Michael Ian Borer
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Sarah Boslaugh
Washington University School of Medicine
Durrell Bowman University of Guelph Timothy Paul Bowman Southern Methodist University Cyndi Boyce
Lincoln Trail College Jana Brubaker
Northern Illinois University William E. Burns
George Washington University Charlotte Cahill
Northwestern University
Brian Calfano
University of North Texas John Calhoun
Palm Beach Atlantic University Daniel Callcut
University of North Florida Charles Carter
University of Georgia Stephanie Chaban San Diego State University Evan Charney
Duke University Karma R. Chávez University of New Mexico David N. Cherney
University of Colorado, Boulder David J. Childs
Miami University Justin P. Coffey Bradley University Douglas Craig
Australian National University Benjamin W. Cramer
Pennsylvania State University
Editor
Roger Chapman Palm Beach Atlantic University
Advisory Board
Paul M. Buhle Brown University Larry Eskridge Wheaton College Barbara B. Hines Howard University Donald McQuarieBowling Green State University Lauren Rabinovitz
University of Iowa
David Roediger
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
John Kenneth White Catholic University of America
xxiv Contributors
Solomon Davidoff
Wentworth Institute of Technology Sue Davis
University of Delaware Alexandra DeMonte Loyola University, Chicago James I. Deutsch Smithsonian Institution Larry W. DeWitt
U.S. Social Security Administration Michele Dillon
University of New Hampshire Rachel Donaldson
Vanderbilt University Sven Dubie
John Carroll University Mark L. Dubois Duke University Robert H. Duke
Western Michigan University Merrit Dukehart
University of Colorado, Boulder Quentin Hedges Duroy Denison University Tanya Hedges Duroy Wright State University Margaret Dykes University of Georgia Darius V. Echeverría Rutgers University Mark Edwards
Ouachita Baptist University Thomas C. Ellington Wesleyan College, Macon Blake Ellis
Rice University Gehrett Ellis Harvard University
William J. Emerson, III Bowling Green State University Corey Fields
Northwestern University Linford D. Fisher Brown University Patrick Fisher Seton Hall University Joshua Fogel
Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Gill Frank Brown University Anthony C. Gabrielli High Point University Carolyn Gallaher American University Michelle Garvey University of Minnesota Joseph Gelfer
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Ryan Gibb University of Kansas Philippe R. Girard McNeese State University Richard C. Goode Lipscomb University Darren E. Grem University of Georgia Candace Griffith
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Laura Hague
Austin Community College Craig Hanson
Palm Beach Atlantic University A.W.R. Hawkins
Wayland Baptist University
Heather Hendershot
Queens College, City University of New York
Tony L. Hill
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Steve G. Hoffman
State University of New York, Buffalo Richard Gibbons Holtzman Bryant University
Richard L. Hughes Illinois State University T.R.C. Hutton Vanderbilt University Sara Hyde University of Mississippi Patrick Jackson Vanderbilt University Jordon Johnson
New Mexico Highlands University Michael Johnson, Jr.
Washington State University J.D. Jordan
University of Georgia Elliot L. Judd
University of Illinois, Chicago Mary E. Kelly
University of Central Missouri Stephanie L. Kent
University of Nevada, Las Vegas Stephen Kershnar
State University of New York, Fredonia
C. Richard King
Washington State University Melanie Kirkland
Texas Christian University Peter N. Kirstein Saint Xavier University
Contributors xxv
Gal Kober Boston University Christine Hoff Kraemer Boston University Tim Lacy
University of Illinois, Chicago Selina S.L. Lai
University of Heidelberg, Germany Gwendolyn Laird
Austin Community College Gary Land
Andrews University Tom Lansburg
Kansas Wesleyan University Rob Latham
University of Iowa Abraham D. Lavender Florida International University Damon Lindler Lazzara York University
David J. Leonard
Washington State University Daniel Liechty
Illinois State University Christopher J. Lyons University of New Mexico Mike Males Independent Scholar Nick Malinowski Independent Scholar Jeffrey T. Manuel University of Minnesota Andy Markowitz Independent Scholar Leah Martin Independent Scholar Elizabeth M. Matelski Loyola University, Chicago
Angie Maxwell
University of Texas, Austin Gary W. McDonogh Bryn Mawr College Cindy Mediavilla
University of California, Los Angeles Daniel Melendrez
University of Texas, El Paso Jason Mellard
University of Texas, Austin Keri Leigh Merritt University of Georgia Tom Mertes
University of California, Los Angeles Cynthia J. Miller
Emerson College Nicolaas Mink
University of Wisconsin, Madison Kelly L. Mitchell
University of Western Ontario Eric J. Morgan
University of Colorado, Boulder Marilyn Morgan
Harvard University Kevin C. Motl
Ouachita Baptist University Gary Mucciaroni
Temple University Andrew R. Murphy Rutgers University J. Robert Myers
Loyola University, Chicago Joane Nagel University of Kansas Traci L. Nelson University of Pittsburgh Rebecca Nicholson-Weir Purdue University
Holona LeAnne Ochs University of Kansas Jacob W. Olmstead Texas Christian University Seth Ovadia Bowdoin College Valerie Palmer-Mehta Oakland University Serena Parekh University of Connecticut Manon Parry
University of Maryland, College Park Sean Parson
University of Oregon Susan Pearce
East Carolina University Mark Pedelty
University of Minnesota Joshua E. Perry Indiana University Kurt W. Peterson North Park University Martin J. Plax
Cleveland State University Lee S. Polansky
Independent Scholar Jonah Raskin
Sonoma State University Claire E. Rasmussen University of Delaware Kirk Richardson
Virginia Commonwealth University Robert L. Richardson
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
George Rising University of Arizona Christopher D. Rodkey Lebanon Valley College
xxvi Contributors
Joseph A. Rodriguez
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Deborah D. Rogers
University of Maine Sergio Romero Boise State University Joseph Rosenblum
University of Colorado, Boulder Martha J. Ross-Rodgers Independent Scholar Aaron Safane University of Georgia Sue Salinger
European Graduate School C. Heike Schotten
University of Massachusetts, Boston Todd Scribner
Catholic University of America Erika Seeler
Duke University Jeff Shantz
Kwantlen University College Greg M. Shaw
Illinois Wesleyan University Gregory P. Shealy
University of Wisconsin, Madison Neil Shepard
Bowling Green State University Matthew C. Sherman Saint Louis University Francis Shor
Wayne State University William F. Shughart, II University of Mississippi Jennifer Lyn Simpson University of Colorado, Boulder
Aidan Smith Cornell University Courtney Smith University of Oregon Robert S. Smith
University of North Carolina, Charlotte Min Song University of Georgia Daniel Spillman Emory University Arlene Stein Rutgers University Karen Sternheimer
University of Southern California Bruce E. Stewart
Appalachian State University James W. Stoutenborough University of Kansas Drew A. Swanson University of Georgia Aaron Swartz Independent Scholar Omar Swartz
University of Colorado, Denver Molly Swiger
Baldwin-Wallace College Jessie Swigger
University of Texas, Austin Keith Swigger
Texas Woman’s University Peter Swirski
University of Hong Kong Steven L. Taylor Troy University Robert Teigrob Ryerson University
Phil Tiemeyer
University of Texas, Austin Mike Timonin
James Madison University John Day Tully
Central Connecticut State University Glenn H. Utter
Lamar University Liam van Beek
University of Western Ontario Jon VanWieren
Western Michigan University David W. Veenstra
University of Illinois, Chicago Michael A. Vieira
Bishop Connolly High School Danielle R. Vitale
Oakland University Bryan E. Vizzini
West Texas A&M University William T. Walker Chestnut Hill College Andrew J. Waskey Dalton State College Robert Weisbrot Colby College Daniel K. Williams University of West Georgia Jed Woodworth
University of Wisconsin, Madison E. Michael Young
Trinity Valley Community College Steve Young
McHenry County College Anna Zuschlag
xxvii
From the end of World War II to the present, many contend, American society has been wracked by social and political polarization—a conflict of values and ideas widely referred to as the “culture wars.” The term is metaphorical, as the divisions have not involved literal war, seldom bloodshed, and certainly nothing close to the calamity of the Civil War or other major national conflagrations. Rather, the skirmishes of the culture wars generally have been contained within a democratic framework, involving public debate, election cam-paigns, legislative politics, lobbying, legal proceedings and court cases, agenda setting by interest groups and think tanks, religious movements, protests and dem-onstrations, media events, partisan media commentary, politicized popular culture, and academic discourse.
The provenance of the term “culture wars” is Euro-pean, specifically the German Reich’s Kulturkampf (liter-ally, “culture struggle”) of the 1870s. The Kulturkampf was a political and ideological confrontation between Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, a modernist reformer, and the Roman Catholic Church. As Bismarck sought to unite his newly formed empire, comprised primarily of Protestants, he saw the Catholic Church as hindering his political aims. Indeed, the Kulturkampf was precipi-tated by the formation of a Catholic political party called the Center. With the cooperation of the Reichstag, or national legislature, Bismarck sought to diminish the societal influence of the Catholic Church by placing pa-rochial schools under state control, expelling the Jesuits, forbidding clerics from expressing political views from the pulpit, and mandating civil marriage ceremonies. Such repressive efforts at bringing about cultural unity ultimately backfired, however, as they triggered strong conservative and popular opposition. Finally, after the death of Pope Pius IX in 1878, Bismarck ended his Kulturkampf and enlisted the Center Party to help him oppose the growing menace of socialism.
A World of Binary Constructs
By the late 1980s, some in the United States were relat-ing the political and cultural divisiveness of their society to what had occurred in Bismarck’s Germany. Among the controversies that seemed especially analogous, at least to
some, were those pertaining to the relationship between church and state. The comparison greatly appealed to leaders of the Religious Right and social conservatives in general, as it was in harmony with their view that tradi-tional values were under assault. Whatever the extent of similarity between the tensions in American society dur-ing the 1980s and those in Germany durdur-ing the 1870s, the descriptor “culture wars” has stuck.
One defining feature of the culture wars is a label-ing and classification of issues that suggests a moralistic either/or sensibility. Such binary constructs have a Man-ichaean aspect, lending legitimacy to the view that the struggle is religious in nature. In most cases, issues and players in the culture wars are presented as pairs of polar opposites and irreconcilable differences. Consequently, the battles are characterized as liberals versus conserva-tives, red states versus blue states, the left versus the right, theists versus secularists, fundamentalists and evangelicals versus religious progressives, radicals versus moderates, constrained versus unconstrained, relativism versus absolute truth, traditionalists versus modernists, secular-progressives versus traditionalists, urban versus rural, suburban versus urban, metro versus retro, the masses versus the elitists, libertarian individualists versus liberal collectivists, “strict father morality” versus “nur-turant parent morality,” textual theists versus nontextual theists, modern values versus Victorian virtues, morality versus permissiveness, loose constructionists versus strict constructionists, postmodernism versus objective reality, patriarchy versus women’s liberation, prochoice versus prolife, neoconservatives versus isolationists, multicul-turalists versus universalists, the nuclear family versus the extended family, and so on.
While such framing serves as convenient shorthand, perhaps useful to some degree, it tends to oversimplify issues and individuals by failing to acknowledge their nu-ances and complexities. Indeed, a majority of Americans find themself positioned somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum. Take away the binary constructs, however, and it is difficult to find a handle on the culture wars. Moreover, since binary constructs are part of the spoken language of culture warriors, any serious analysis must grapple with such terms and concepts.
Introduction
xxviii Introduction
Context and Background
Numerous events preceded the onset of the culture wars. While designating any single starting point is arbitrary, one could justifiably point to the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal of the 1930s. Republi-cans were shut out of the White House for two decades (1933–1953), the power of the federal government increased dramatically, and a host of new entitlement programs were created. Democrat presidents following FDR attempted to build on the New Deal, most notably Lyndon B. Johnson with his Great Society. Bill Clinton’s failed attempt to introduce universal health care in the 1990s likewise was part of the Democratic drive to add to the legacy of the New Deal.
In reaction against the progressive trends, conser-vatives campaigned against big government, arguing that it diminishes individual freedom and incentive, constrains free enterprise, and puts the United States at risk of becoming a socialist nation. After President Harry Truman’s upset victory over Thomas Dewey in 1948, the Republican Party made the threat of communism its main concern, using the issue of national security as a cudgel against Democrats (who were in power when the Soviet Union acquired the atomic bomb and China fell to communism) and going so far as to equate the grow-ing federal power in Washgrow-ington with communist-style centralization. Concerns related to the Cold War, with excesses leading to the Red Scare of the 1950s (called McCarthyism by its critics), took on a moral tone as con-servatives contrasted the Soviet regime’s official atheistic stance with America’s Judeo-Christian tradition. It was in this context that the phrase “under God” was inserted in the American flag pledge and “In God We Trust” inscribed on the nation’s currency. At the same time, however, a number of Supreme Court rulings interpreted the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause as requir-ing a high wall of separation between church and state (in the process ruling official prayer in public schools as unconstitutional), which outraged many conservatives.
The Cold War placed a new emphasis on human rights. In communist countries, individual freedom was greatly restricted, which most Americans considered repugnant. The United Nations, itself the brainchild of FDR, proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Hu-man Rights in 1948, just three years after the institu-tion’s founding. In the United States, succeeding years brought increasing concern about the rights of blacks in the Southern states, where segregation was the law of the land. Critics noted that the United States was a less than perfect model to the rest of the world when blacks were treated as second-class citizens. The civil rights movement, eventually backed by federal courts and new federal laws, became a model for other causes, including feminism, gay rights, environmentalism, and even the Religious Right. At the same time, the expansion of
African American rights triggered Southern white resent-ment over federal usurpation of states’ rights.
Cultural changes in postwar America, including a vibrant economy and the baby boom, led to a growing youth culture backed by television, popular music (in-cluding rock and roll), and automobiles. The introduc-tion of the birth-control pill, an effective and convenient oral contraceptive, spurred the sexual revolution. Young people in greater numbers began “shacking up,” and the trend toward no-fault divorce led to the dissolution of more marriages. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that state laws prohibiting the sale of birth-control devices violated individual privacy rights, a decision deplored by strict constructionists as not being based on any direct reading of the Constitution. Later, in Roe v. Wade (1973), the high court ruled that state laws banning abortion also were unconstitutional, again based on the right to privacy. In 1979, the Christian Right became manifest with the formation of the Moral Majority, a pressure group that opposed abortion and other trends seen as threatening family values and the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The Vietnam War, part of the ongoing U.S. effort to contain the spread of communism, led to domestic un-rest, with massive student antiwar protests in the 1960s and early 1970s. One side viewed the war as immoral; the other side viewed opposition to the war as equally immoral. Saigon finally fell to the communists in April 1975, less than a year after Richard Nixon had resigned as president over the Watergate scandal, and the United States was plagued for the rest of the decade by ongoing economic problems, an energy crisis, and the Iran hostage crisis. During this period, many New Deal Democrats switched party affiliation and voted for conservative Republican Ronald Reagan, whose election in 1980 signaled a sweeping political realignment. According to some commentators, the economic crisis of the 1970s provided the New Right with an opening to advance its agenda much in the way the Great Depression had given momentum to liberals and progressives. Republicans courted the Religious Right, inserted an anti-abortion plank in their party platform, and gained the enduring allegiance of conservative Christian voters.
The election of Bill Clinton in 1992, however, shattered Republican illusions of a permanent reign and prompted some in the party to view their struggle as a culture war. Clinton’s election during an economic downturn, after he worked a campaign strategy based on the premise “It’s the economy, stupid,” put a wrinkle in the culture wars thesis that voters place more impor-tance on cultural issues (values) than on their economic interests.
In 1999, in response to the Republican failure to remove Clinton from office over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, Paul Weyrich, a leading Republican conservative
Introduction xxix
and strategist of the Religious Right, lamented, “I do not believe that a majority of Americans actually share our values. . . . I believe that we have probably lost the culture war. That doesn’t mean the war is not going to continue, and that it isn’t going to be fought on other fronts. But in terms of society in general, we have lost. This is why, even when we win in politics, our victories fail to translate into the kind of policies we believe are important.”
Hunter’s Culture War
The culture wars became a major topic of debate fol-lowing the publication of Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America (1991), a book by longtime University of Virginia sociology professor James Davison Hunter. Ac-cording to Hunter, American society is divided between the “orthodox” and the “progressive,” characterized by “political and social hostility rooted in different systems of understanding.” Accordingly, whereas Americans once shared “a larger biblical culture”—one equated with “moral authority” based on belief in a transcendental supreme being (God) who has handed down revelation (Scripture) that must be followed for all times—the years since World War II have seen a growing segment of the American populace operating on a different worldview, one based on cultural progressivism. The latter group, which includes the nonreligious as well as theistic pro-gressives, has an affinity for Enlightenment ideals, secu-larism, and modernity, and tends to think rationally as well as subjectively. Consequently, according to Hunter, a division developed between the holdovers of the old culture, comprising conservative Judeo-Christian values, and those who approach the challenges of the day from a more contextual, “spirit of the time” perspective.
In the context of historical religious communi-ties, members are divided between the orthodox and progressives—a situation in which denominational doc-trine and religious rituals are no longer glue that binds. In other words, the culture wars are seen as taking place within faith communities, between faith communities, and between faith communities and the larger society. It can be noted, for example, that the Religious Right is comprised of conservative Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. In addition, secularists themselves remain divided, with some leaning toward the orthodox rather than the progressive, embracing natural law in the same way that theists subscribe to religious tradition.
While acknowledging that political elites are the ones who have been orchestrating the culture wars, Hunter maintains that the general public is nonethe-less caught up in the struggle, which he calls “a war of moral visions.” Even though “most Americans occupy a vast middle ground between the polarizing impulses of American culture,” he insists that they, too, are par-ticipants in the culture wars because each individual has
an “impulse” to lean toward either the orthodox or the progressive. The mass media, Hunter further argues, no longer mediate political differences, but instead exac-erbate the divisions—in other words, even though the private thoughts of Americans are generally moderate, public discourse is polarizing and results in “the eclipse of the middle.”
Continuing his thesis, Hunter argues that America’s cultural cleavage is ultimately about “how we are to order our lives together.” In other words, as reflected in the subtitle of his book, the crux of the conflict is about the future of the nation. In his broad outline of the culture wars, Hunter identifies five “fronts” on which the future will be played out: the family, education, the media, law, and politics. Ultimately, he predicts, the culture wars will decide such contentious family issues as reproduction rights (including abortion), the boundaries of legitimate sexuality, childrearing, feminism, sexual orientation, and even the structure and definition of the family. In the realm of education, the outcome of the culture wars will decide what children are taught and resolve a broad range of related issues, from history standards and multiculturalism to sex education and whether or not the science curriculum should incorporate theistic perspectives concerning the origins of human life. The battle over the media will decide what content is ac-ceptable in popular culture, from television and film to novels, song lyrics, public art, and computer games. In regard to law, the broad issue of rights—human rights, worker rights, consumer rights, civil rights, voter rights, women’s rights, gay rights, children’s rights, the rights of the unborn, parental rights, the rights of the handi-capped, patient rights, the right to die, animal rights, the rights of the accused, gun rights, property rights, speech rights, artist rights, and the like—has taken on paramount importance. Finally, Hunter maintains, the political struggle is ultimately about power and how many issues of the culture wars will be resolved, thereby placing great importance on elections, the voting process, party platforms, campaign financing, lobbying, judicial appointments, and the like.
Buchanan’s Culture War
Whereas Hunter presented his thesis primarily to aca-demics (although the book was offered as an alternate Book-of-the-Month Club selection), Patrick Buchanan, a Roman Catholic political conservative and media com-mentator, is credited with popularizing the concept of the culture wars. On August 17, 1992, at the Republi-can National Convention in Houston, Texas, Buchanan gave an address in which he famously (or infamously) declared, “There is a religious war going on in our coun-try for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself.”
