Question

What is a culture war? Are culture wars beneficial to society?

Answer 1

A culture war refers to a clash between two or more groups of people holding opposing beliefs--conservative and progressive beliefs. When people having different ideologies and philosophies live in a society, difference of opinions between them are inevitable.

Are cultural wars beneficial to society? This depends on what you are fighting for. If you are fighting for a cause that creates social justice and is beneficial to a larger section of a society, then yes, that fight can be considered fair. But if you are fighting for a cause that is regressive or imposes unfair practices, then that is a destructive war.

Culture wars may begin because of religious or political influences. The fight for same-sex marriage in the U.S. became a politcal debate at one point. The practice of polygyny in Islam, where a man is allowed to have multiple wives at a time, has become a culture war with religious influence. Some culture wars create violence and disrupt the peace in society, but they may be necessary sometimes to bring in social change. So, we cannot really affirm if every culture war is beneficial to society.