Culture Wars: Another Bad Metaphor

I've been asked to do an opinion piece on the term culture wars for a local newsweekly. This was because in talking with the editor, I remembered that the term came into prominence as a result of a 1991 book by U of Virginia prof. James Hunter. As I've said in previous posts, I don't like using the term war (as in war on drugs, poverty or terror) because it tends to justify a take-no-prisoners approach to political discourse. I'll offer more after I have a chance to reread Hunter's books.