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The
September 2000
Cultural war
rages in
Fight could define community standards, freedom of expression, meaning of family. By: Joel Kurth
Just this year, the two camps have waged a series of skirmishes about gay rights, censorship, funding of the arts, Internet pornography and obscenity. More appear certain as grassroots organizations on both sides take hold and gain followers. Viewed individually, the issues may be a little more that societal brush fires that strike everywhere. Collectively, the frequency of the clashes points to a brewing cultural war about what it means to live and work in the nation’s third-richest county.
“Morality is contagious
and people are finally saying ‘enough,’” said Deb DeBacker, a
“For too long, there’s been a lack of outrage and people were afraid to speak out about what’s going wrong. No more.” Every week, it seems, the battlefield shifts.
A lewd and violent video has a popular rapper facing pornography charges and The Palace of Auburn Hills is in trouble with state licensing agents.
Efforts to ban
discrimination against gays were defeated in
Activists want libraries countrywide to filter pornography from the Internet. A proposed arts tax is under fire from those who say it’ll subsidize smut. Nothing short of a way of life is at stake, both sides say. The fights will define the meaning of family, community standards and freedom of expression… There are also deep-pocketed arts patrons seeking a greater say in how their dollars are used, an arts community resentful of the restrictions and a rich population with the luxury of debating societal – not survival – issues, said Jef Bourgeau, a Rochester artist.
“There’s an identity
crisis because the ruling class is being challenged by groups on the
outposts like
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