Culture Wars The Struggle to Define America by James...

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 â€Å"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†¦show more content†¦The Republican Party think that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections should apply to unborn children and the unborn child should have the fundamental right to life. However, the Democratic Party strongly disagree with this idea to a fundamental right to life. â€Å"Democrats stand behind the right of every woman to choose. [They] believe it is a constitutional liberty† (Democratic Party Platform). They fully support a woman’s right to make decision regarding her own pregnancy and health. Abortion is a personal decision between a woman and her doctors, therefore it is not a place for the government to get in the way. While the Democratic Party is pro-choice, they believe that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. These two widely different stances on the issue stem primarily from religious and moral influence. Abortion is not an issue that can be played in the middle. There is one side or the other, and people make their choices based on their morals and religious preferences. The next big issue in the American cultural war is the controversy of whether or not school prayer should take place. The Republican Party supports the idea of voluntary, student-led prayer but not the idea of teacher-led prayers. One of the main focuses is to â€Å"return voluntary school prayer and enforce the Republican legislation that guarantees equal access to school facilities by student religious groups† (Republican Party Platform ). The Democratic Party had a similar