Pat Buchanan on the Culture War (1992)

1) What does Pat Buchanan mean by the phrase "Culture War?"

2) Does this document have relevance for us today?

1) What does Pat Buchanan mean by the phrase "Culture War?"

The conservative journalist Pat Buchanan had spoken about the coming presidential election. He delivered a speech that criticizes the reforms and changes the liberals wanted to achieve. Buchanan had listed these changes, and it includes abortion, homosexual rights, discrimination against religious schools, and allowing women to join the army. He states that these changes that the liberal party wants are amoral and unneeded in a "God's country" that is America.

The presidential election is not only about who's going to get the positions in the White House but the identity of America is at stake. Buchanan addresses the cultural war that is happening in the United States. This cultural war is between the liberal and the Republican presidential candidates and what they stand for. Public morality is at stake as Buchanan implies, with both sides having different stances on the issues. A religious war, as Buchanan calls it, is a critical war that would decide the stance of the public in morality, the culture that would be assimilated, and the future of America.

2) Does this document have relevance for us today?

The speech on the Culture War by Pat Buchanan had shaped the stance of the two major political parties in culture and beliefs. The liberal party and its supporters lean towards reforms and policies that affect the rights of an individual, which explains the same-sex marriage and abortion rights coming from this party. On the other side, the Republican party and its supporters lean towards conservative ideas of Americans, and religion. For decades, there hasn't been a change in the beliefs and ideology of these two parties. The Cultural War, as Pat Buchanan address in his speech in 1992 is still relevant nowadays with the ongoing tensions between the beliefs of the liberals and republicans. This has greatly affected the laws and reforms enacted in the states of the United States. Republican states would have a stance on anti-abortion law and same-sex marriage while Liberal states would enact abortion law and allow same-sex marriage. There won't be an end to the Cultural War as long as these two major parties won't try to understand each other and create a common ground.