This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
But the distinction between those who believe in God and those who don't, and the consequences of those beliefs, are trivial to make. I think its axiomatic to say that non-belief in God fundamentally shapes the ideology and worldview that you adopt, and the inverse if you do believe in God; whether you specify if the God is Christian or not is irrelevant. You don't believe in God, so that puts in the non-God-believing camp, which is currently, as described, going though a civil war.
The diversity of views about human nature is reflected in the utter and complete factionalism that we see in the culture war today. That's why Hlynka's specifies "core". I'd even argue that even if people don't see or acknowledge similarities in belief between themselves and their ideological opponents, those similarities still exist. Even in your example Marxists, they still focus on the irreconcilability of the self and the collective, which is an external loci of control.
To use an example, fascism and communism are as opposite as they can be, but they are still, fundamentally, illiberal; both in practice and ideologically. Likewise, while the modern culture war might be filled with people who hold seemingly contradictorily views, they might still have common ground ideologically and in practice.
More options
Context Copy link