For example, the language of parental rights is rarely, if ever, religious, but it speaks to the pervasive sense that American families are fighting back against progressive ideologues over control of the classroom. Rather than invocations of Scripture, the right’s appeal is a defense of a broader, beleaguered American way of life. But all of those demographics are uncomfortable with the progressive social agenda of the post-Obama years. Today’s culture war is being waged not between religion and secularism but between groups that the Catholic writer Matthew Schmitz has described as “ the woke and the unwoke.” “Catholic traditionalists, Orthodox Jews, Middle American small-business owners and skeptical liberal atheists may not seem to have much in common,” he wrote in 2020. Although it enjoys the support of most Republican Christians who formed the electoral backbone of the old Moral Majority, it is a social conservatism rather than a religious one, revolving around race relations, identity politics, immigration and the teaching of American history. Instead of an explicitly biblical focus on issues like school prayer, no-fault divorce and homosexuality, the new coalition is focused on questions of national identity, social integrity and political alienation. It’s hard to imagine today’s culture warriors taking any interest in the 1950s push for a Christian amendment to the Constitution, for example. But a reversal of the landmark 1973 ruling would be more of a last gasp than a sign of strength for the religious right. That may seem strange to say at a moment when a mostly Catholic conservative majority on the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. The conservative political project is no longer specifically Christian. But this new campaign is also distinctly different from the culture wars of the late 20th century, and it reflects a broad shift in conservatism’s priorities and worldview. They have made today’s culture wars as fierce as they have been in decades. ![]() The anti-critical-race-theory laws, anti-transgender laws and parental rights bills that have swept the country in recent years are the movement’s opening shots. A new kind of conservatism, represented by right-wing elites like Ron DeSantis, Christopher Rufo and Tucker Carlson, is making itself known. But what’s clear is that the Republican Party is changing. Even for an insider like me, the whirlwind of energy and debate within today’s conservative movement can be bewildering.
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