There isn’t much to admire about culture warriors. In the red corner, the historically predominant side, now a minority, is baying about “religious freedom” because imposing its values on the population is becoming increasingly difficult. Some of its prominent adherents have made it clear that they will support the Orban option and throw liberal democracy in the trash if their values aren’t written in law. The blue corner is full of people who are so filled with their own sense of righteousness, they can’t admit that the red side is supported by scripture and thousands of years of precedent. To them, everyone in the red corner is a fool and a bigot. Neither side will talk to the other. No wonder our country is so divided.
That’s why the compromise floating in an op-ed in today’s NYT is so heartening. It proposes a deal in which the blues get their position on gay rights established as the law, and the reds get clearly defined carve-outs. A win-win! I approve, and hope Biden read it; something like it may be our last hope for a settlement that staves off a massive and unwelcome constitutional change in the future.