The Culture War Is Not Over

  According to conservative pundits, the culture war is over—and conservatives lost. Well, someone forgot to tell the American Civil Liberties Union. The other day I received a letter from Ira Glasser, the ACLU's executive director. Now, why the ACLU had targeted me as a potential supporter and donor is a mystery. But I'm glad they sent me the letter, because I learned a lot from it. It suggests that the culture war is far from over, and that conservatives just might be winning, after all. The tone of the ACLU letter was urgent, almost hysterical. Recipients were warned about "a very loud and dangerous bunch" who have managed to get themselves "entrenched in the corridors of power." Really? If you guessed that this "bunch" is conservative Christians, go to the head of the class. It appears the ACLU has figured out what Christian activists are really up to. You may have thought that we push certain political views because we believe they are the right ones, and that implementing them will be good for our society. But you would be wrong. According to Glasser, what we're really after is to "remake our country... in the image" of a "deceitful brand of morality" that we've "fabricated." In the eyes of the ACLU, Christians are so powerful that we can bend the laws of physics to suit our purposes. Really! We're attempting to reverse the flow of time and return our country to the 1950s, notwithstanding Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity. And contrary to the defeatist rhetoric you may have heard from discouraged conservatives, the ACLU says that we religious conservatives are terrifyingly close to achieving our objectives. The letter urges recipients to join the ACLU "while there is still time" because Christians may radically change America "over the next few years." From Glasser's mouth to God's ears. Like most fundraising appeals, the ACLU's letter is heavy on the drama and overstates the case more than a little. And, of course, it misrepresents the motives of Christians at every possible turn. But when you cut through the histrionics, it's clear the ACLU and its secularist allies are running scared. They see evidence of a cultural backlash against the secularist liberalism that they and their allies in the courts have tried to impose on Americans. But you don't need the ACLU to tell you that the culture wars are far from over. Over the past few months, I've told you about how Christians in Alabama and South Carolina defeated the gambling lobby. I've told you about how Breakpoint listeners got Amazon.com to stop selling a book promoting pedophilia. No wonder the ACLU is nervous. They read the signs of the times as well as we do. Well, the ACLU letter, despite its outrageous tone, serves a very good purpose—it reminds us that any talk of surrender in the culture wars is premature. Our neighbors are beginning to see the damage wrought on our culture by the very brand of secular liberalism peddled by the ACLU. And they don't like it. It has fortified my resolve. That's why I'm glad I got that fundraising letter from the ACLU. No, I didn't send them a contribution. But I just might drop them a "thank you" note.

01/12/00