I read a lot of Internet news; truth be told, skim is more like it. That’s because most news stories are poor quality and that includes some conservative sources – but I’ll take that over deceptive indoctrination outlets. Nevertheless, there’s one advantage to quickly flying over news blurbs at a figurative 30,000 ft altitude and that’s the vantage of seeing some larger patterns. When flying, you notice when dense coastal areas turn to less dense farms, then to large farms, perfectly regular plots of land, colored squares or circles on a neat orderly board far below, mountains and streams, dry or flooded wet. So it is with news. We’re flying into a pattern where forces – progressive? establishment? faux conservative? – where there is an effort to minimize the ‘culture war’ issues held by most conservatives.
‘Culture war’ issues have little definition but are illustrated by movements like ‘critical race theory’ (CRT), identity politics like LGBTQ…, media assaults on conservatives, cancel culture, and many more high-profile ideological struggles. The alternative proper mainstream issues are those such as budgets and appropriations, political dominance, energy policy etc., clearly important but… I’m seeing news voices try to drive a wedge between conservatism and culture war focal points; some are clearly annoyed by it. My message is this: don’t lose an inch of ground, stay the course, its not either or. Don’t let anyone force you, us to choose. We want action on both and all.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” **
Culture war issues cut to the values that make up life at street level. They are our beliefs, our ethics, the son or daughter that you sacrificed a great deal for to bring into the world and make it a better place. It’s your moral center, your history, the wisdom, work, and sacrifice of many generations before that are far more worthy, wise, and proven than the glib talking head sneering at you on your device screen – the one in a scandal, that’s known for abusing their staff, that got hired or fired over lewd conduct, that directly contradicted their own Covid order, and on and on.
The push to separate conservatives from culture war matters is the push to take three of your four arrows out of your hands, to take you to their battlefield where they know the terrain and you don’t and where you will be easily defeated in all of your causes. Don’t do it, stay the course, demand victory in all of your conservative convictions.
**Matthew 16:25 KJ21