Hope and Optimism in America: Wins in the Culture Wars

AMAC Exclusive – By David P. Deavel

The late Jesuit priest, scholar, and man of letters Paul Mankowski was fond of saying he saw no reason for optimism, but every reason for hope. The difference is that hope goes beyond the immediate circumstances and deals ultimately with the big picture: God is always in control, brings good out of the worst of evils, and has a plan for the universe, you, and me. This is important to remember. Americans are congenitally optimistic, but without hope, bad times can take us from the “Morning in America” of Ronald Reagan to the “WAH-WAHH” of Rachel Dratch’s character Debbie Downer. Downer-ism has its own perverse pleasures that can be addicting and can blind us to reasons we might have to see good things on the near horizon (optimism!) and not simply in the New Heaven and New Earth (hope!). We have every reason for hope these days but, thanks be to God, a great many reasons for optimism today.

Tammy Bruce highlighted a number of these reasons just a couple of days ago at AMAC in her article “Good News for Us Happy Warriors.” These included: a number of judicial decisions, most noticeably for millions of travelers Judge Mizelle’s striking down of the federal airplane mask mandate;  Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s signing into law a bill ending Disney World’s special status as a kind of self-governing political territory in the state; and the shuttering of Warner’s streaming service CNN+ after three weeks.

There was much more in the article, but what’s wonderful and a sign of renewed optimism is how many more good things have happened since Bruce’s Friday column in the corporate world, judicial decisions and state-level legislation and administration. Most important, however, are optimistic signs rooted in that theological hope Fr. Mankowski referred to.

First, the good news from corporate America. Some of the good news is that the rule “Go Woke, Go Broke,” though not without exception, is being applied to some of the biggest offenders. Not only is woke Disney finding its shares cratering, but uberwoke Netflix, which foisted the child-porn Cuties and are planning a show about “pregnant men,” had a 37% crash on their shares after reporting massive losses of subscribers with more to come. It might seem some CEOs and boards are waking up to the disasters looming if they keep up their current positioning on public health tyranny and progressive ideology.

• Delta has decided to take “mask violators” off their no-fly list, while United and American say they will do so, too.
• Exxon has forbidden employees from flying the Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ pride flags from the flagpoles outside its corporate headquarters.
• Baskin-Robbins has released its first new advertising campaign in twenty years and, rather than basing it on critical race theory or transgenderism, they have decided to highlight—of all things—their product. Ice cream! They have three new flavors!

Two more decisions from courts have come down in the last few days as well. They help in cracking down on the chilling of free speech and the continuing trend of racialized business dealings in the name of “equity.”

• The 11^th Circuit Court has given the green light to litigants suing the University of Central Florida on First Amendment grounds based on the way their “Bias-Related Incidents” bureaucracy works.
• A New York appeals court ruled that Uber must pay the American Arbitration Association for a promotion in which they waived delivery fees for black customers but nobody else. This could cost them up to $91 million.

And in the political realm, Florida keeps serving as the political sunshine state. In addition to the law ending Disney’s self-governing status in Florida, Governor DeSantis signed this week the “Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act” (shortened to Stop W.O.K.E.” Act). This law forbids subjecting individuals to requirements that they accept or profess teachings that some group is inherently superior or inferior, victim or oppressor in order to get jobs, certification, licensing, credentialing, or passing grades on examinations in schools. Examples given include that:

• “Members of one race, color, sex, or national origin are morally superior to members of another race, color, sex, or national origin.”
• “An individual, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”
• “An individual, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, bears responsibility for, or should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment because of actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, sex, or national origin.”

Not only did Florida pass this bill, but their Department of Health released guidelines on the treatment of children with gender dysphoria that actually “follow the science,” taking into account the harm done to children that has been acknowledged by experts in a number of countries. Those guidelines state:

• “Social gender transition should not be a treatment option for children or adolescents.”
• “Anyone under 18 should not be prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy.”
• “Gender reassignment surgery should not be a treatment option for children or adolescents.”

These are good signs all. Though our society is sick, many people are discovering courage to fight back politically and economically. I suspect that this has to do with the fact that though overall church attendance has been going down for a number of years in the United States, many serious believers—Christians and Jews—have become awakened to how bad the situation is. They are digging deeper into their own faith and relying on God, who gives hope for the long term and any success we have in the short term. At the Catholic Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota, where I live, there were growing numbers of men this year who have decided to seriously ask God whether they might serve in parish priesthood. Across the river, Anselm House, the marvelous Protestant Christian ministry organization, has bought a large building right by the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus so that they can help more students think in distinctly Christian ways about what it means to be a human being and serve God with one’s mind.

Victories in the culture wars require culture. Culture ultimately requires a good bit of worship—or cultus in the Latin. I think the victories we’ve been seeing are answers to prayers made by people who have been exercising that hope through a dark couple of years. And the victories build the kind of realistic optimism that can inspire more people to fight good fights to make our country saner and better.

There is plenty of bad news, no doubt. But I see every reason for hope and optimism today. And every reason to keep praying, fighting, and rebuilding our country.

David P. Deavel is editor of Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, co-director of the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy, and a visiting professor at the University of St. Thomas (MN). He is the co-host of the Deep Down Things podcast.