“Several of the most contentious and passionate issues in current politics revolve around what can be called ‘cultural’ issues.”

—Rhys H. Williams

“Culture wars” became a popular catchphrase during the 1980s and 1990s—especially in 1992 when presidential hopeful Patrick Buchanan delivered his campaign speech to the Republican National Convention. Addressing concerns over such controversial issues as abortion, affirmative action, and arts funding, he proclaimed that conservatives must declare a cultural revolution—“a war for the nation’s soul.” Buchanan sees this war as a political and moral battle largely between liberal secular forces and conservative religious forces. In a similar vein, sociologist James Davison Hunter, the author of several books on American political and cultural conflict, defines the culture wars as ongoing ideological debates between two opposing camps. Hunter maintains that these debates typically occur between...