Culture wars

Culture war is forcing a group’s ideology, such as animal rights, on others. I don’t consider myself a culture warrior because I respect others’ values, as long as they are not harmful to civil society. I do resent others trying to impose their values on me. If we are afraid to call out culture war, how can we ever bridge our deepening divides?

Listening seems difficult in our tribal social media-revved echo chambers. As I listen to public testimony at the Fish and Wildlife Commission, I am troubled by culture warriors vilifying “the other” as cruel, unethical, murderous, fringy, “go live somewhere else,” and on and on. Emotion is wrought as values are confused with facts.

Facts are not manufactured in my commissioner decision-making. I consider values, science, and legal responsibilities. Most of the science is data that are approximations of facts. I depend on lots of sources of data and analyze the soundness of the methodology. I don’t take sides in culture wars.

Kim Marie Thorburn, M.D., M.P.H.

Spokane