Ethics: Are We Really In A Culture War?

I must have heard a thousand times that we are in the middle of a ferocious culture war. In fact, I’ve probably been the one speaking many of those times. But recently I got to thinking, not about whether we’re in one, but whether we’re ever not in one. What I mean is that the phrase “culture war” is supposed to help us realize that we live in an ethically divided land, one that does not live by any single set of standards. But has this ever not been the case in American history? And if such a “culture war” is always the way things are, is there really any value in calling it that? Is “culture war” just another word for democracy?

Post-Show Thoughts: I think it's very important to recognize that any country that has political, ideological, and religious freedom and is governed by a democratic system is going to have real, deep, and meaningful divides over lots of issues. It's unlikely that any of these issues is going to be the end of civilization as we know it, only because the changing of similarly contested issues in the past has never been, even though so many people proclaimed it would be. People really thought abolishing slavery would be the end of the United States. They really thought that giving women the right to vote would be the destruction of the country. Well, here we are, and we all agree that those changes were really good ones. I don't mean to imply that nothing matters or that we shouldn't fight wherever we need to. Instead, I've found great comfort in realizing that the culture is always in a state of warfare historically. And God is still on His throne, accomplishing His purposes. Here are some of the examples that I came up with for social issues over time:

Always been wrong: Murder, Theft, Rape, Infanticide
Right, disputed, wrong: Racism, Heroin/opiate use
Disputed, now wrong: Slavery
Always right, now disputed: Tobacco use, Having a large family, Spanking kids, Eating meat, Gun ownership, Animals as pets without rights, Evangelism.
Wrong, now disputed: Homosexuality, Female pastors
Wrong, disputed, right: Divorce, Contraception, Gambling, Usury, Sabbath-breaking
Always wrong, trending to right: Prostitution, Polygamy, Gay marriage
Wrong, disputed, right: Female voting, Interracial marriage
Right, disputed, wrong, disputed, right (mostly): Homeschooling
Right, wrong, right: Alcohol
Always been right: Getting married, Honoring parents

What culture war? by the LA Times