Culture Wars

Coined to describe some recent American battles in the social sphere it seems probable this is coming, if not already here, in the UK. To describe one aspect of these battles there is a very vicious one over abortion. The word is avoided and the two sides describe themselves as pro-choice ( pro abortion ) and pro-life ( anti abortion ). There are culture wars in many other aspects of social policy such as drugs and pornography.

It has long puzzled me why the US has on one hand a very strait laced religious society and on the other the most permissive environment to pornography. The American situation is not helped by the Supreme Court referring back to the constitution which for the most part is nearly 250 years old written at a time when nothing approaching a 21^st century society was foreseen. While the Supreme Court has a wide remit in interpreting the constitution it is also a politicised body. Thus free speech is interpreted as permitting almost anything.

The American impasse is vividly shown in the attitude to guns. While mass shootings have become almost commonplace the right to bear arms is enshrined the constitution and supported by a large gun lobby.

How might this translate to the UK. Race is never far below the surface in America and despite the supposed British tolerance I suspect the same here. The Leavers very successfully exploited the race card in the recent referendum. Islamic extremists are doing their best to increase religious divisions and one has to say having some success. Because religion and race are closely linked in Britain it is easy for divisions to exist. Although most white indigenous Britons are only nominal Christians we do have a Christian culture where grafts from other religions  ( eg over festivals ) are awkward and resented by some.

The UK split was very vividly shown in the recent EU referendum. This has shown us split old-young, north-south, educated- less educated. The strength of feeling aroused will not quickly go away.

And then we have good old fashioned nationalism. Not yet a cultural divide but one of difficulty in Scotland and Northern Ireland for anyone who values the united in United Kingdom.

Other cultural battlegrounds seem certain: pro or anti nuclear power, pro or anti high speed rail, pro or anti wind farms and pro or anti fracking just to select a few topics arousing strong opinions. Although debate may appear superficially to be rational you don’t need to look too closely to see raw emotions.

One cultural issue which I feel strongly about is the supernatural. Probably a majority of the population believe in some sense of the supernatural ranging through a spectrum of “fairies in the bottom of the garden” through to “ there are things we don’t know”. Yes there are many things we don’t know but ghoulies and ghosts aren’t one of them. Give me evidence and I’ll believe but the evidence just isn’t there.