I WASN'T GOING TO READ THIS...

mostly because of the title (The Next Culture War) and the author (David Brooks) but I'm glad I did.  Brooks seems to have become somewhat reasonable about the so-called culture wars:

Social conservatives could be the people who help reweave the sinews of society. They already subscribe to a faith built on selfless love. They can serve as examples of commitment. They are equipped with a vocabulary to distinguish right from wrong, what dignifies and what demeans. They already, but in private, tithe to the poor and nurture the lonely.

This culture war is more Albert Schweitzer and Dorothy Day than Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham; more Salvation Army than Moral Majority. It’s doing purposefully in public what social conservatives already do in private.