CL head sketches a Christianity beyond the culture wars

• John L. Allen Jr. Ines San Martin
• crux now

CL head sketches a Christianity beyond the culture wars

MILAN - One of the most vexing questions facing Christians in the West in the early 21^st century is whether, and how, the Church ought to keep fighting the culture wars.
On the Christian left, there’s a powerful current of thought that the Church ought to withdraw from the field of battle because on many issues, such as contraception and women, it was on the wrong side. On the right, some, such as Rod Dreher and his advocacy of a “Benedict option,” say the Church ought to pull back because it’s already lost and the most it can hope for in this culture is to keep alive small islands of the faith.