Barbara Mezeske: Ottawa County paying the high cost of culture wars

The word “democracy” is from the Greek for “people” and “power.” A democracy is government of, by, and for the people — all of them, not just a certain subset. Democracy embraces individual differences and seeks compromise, while undemocratic societies privilege certain groups based on wealth, race, family lineage, or belief.

“Culture war” is a term used by political scientists and sociologists to describe ideological conflicts between groups holding differing values. When those values and beliefs spill over into politics, cultural flashpoints become obstacles to democratic government.

In modern America, issues of religion and family culture have become political. These issues include diversity initiatives, civil rights for LGBTQ+ people, abortion, contraception, race, and censorship. Such differences have been with us all along: what is new is that they have become political wedge issues. What is also new is that self-serving politicians ride these issues into power, dividing voters into tribes rather than uniting us as communities.

Culture wars are being fought in Ottawa County. A prime example is last week’s board of commissioners’ meeting where a three-minute opening invocation by a member of the Satanic Temple of West Michigan was followed by more than two hours of public comment in which speakers proclaimed their Christian faith, invoked Jesus, rebuked Satan, and defended free speech. It was an example of high political theater, driven by passion.

There is a cost to this kind of performance. The first is time. County board meetings under the leadership of Joe Moss and the other Ottawa Impact commissioners have ballooned into hours-long marathons. At least one commissioner, Kyle Terpstra, resigned in part because family and professional obligations didn’t leave him enough time to sit through the meetings. At last week’s meeting, Commissioner Jacob Bonnema left after two hours, saying “When they decide to do actual business of the county again, I will be there with bells on.”

The second cost of cultural warfare is money. The attempt to fire county health director Adeline Hambley, the ensuing legal battles, and the still-contentious relationship between the board and the health department have been fueled by a cultural issue: mandatory masks and lockdowns during the initial months of the COVID pandemic. Another lawsuit over who gets to offer an invocation was filed by an Episcopalian priest whose liberal views regarding LGBTQ+ people kept him off the roster initially.

The increase in time spent in meetings has led to the Ottawa Impact commissioners’ latest proposal to increase their pay by 60%. Why? Because the job takes so much time.

There is also a cost to public health. When one set of family values shapes public health policy, and when that set of values is not tied to medical research, the cost is measurable. Today’s parents have not experienced rampant cases of measles, mumps, or chicken pox that happened before vaccines for those illnesses became available. Neither have they experienced the fear of polio. Some believe vaccinations cause autism, though that is not supported by science. The board last August passed a resolution requiring the health department to advertise vaccine waivers. The decline in childhood vaccination is a measurable cost.

Family values that reject differences in sexual identity or sexual behavior also stand in the way of public health attempts to protect and educate people regarding safe sex and STDs. Disapproving of certain sexual behaviors and refusing to engage in such behaviors on moral grounds is one’s right. That right, however, doesn’t make those behaviors disappear in society.

The greatest cost of cultural warfare is the misdirection of government energy. Since taking office in January 2023, the Ottawa Impact majority has passed a series of largely symbolic resolutions. They have changed the county logo from “where all belong” to “where freedom rings.” They have declared us a “constitutional county.” They have passed a resolution to “Protect Childhood Innocence.” Last week they passed a “Resolution to Support Life”, which prevents a problem that doesn’t exist: county resources and personnel do not provide abortions and never have.

Participating in cultural warfare gets in the way of what government should be doing. Rather than resolving differences and working for the common good, governing becomes a war to preserve the identity or in some cases the ascendancy of a subset of the population.

Even calling cultural differences a “war” suggests the direction we are headed: seeking victory over those whose values differ from ours, rather than finding a way to move everyone forward together.

Culture wars give politicians an easy route to gain attention or votes by stirring up emotions, by pointing to threats that don’t exist, and by encouraging us to distance ourselves from others. That’s a betrayal of democratic principles which hold that everybody deserves a seat at the table.

Politics is compromise but the nature of morality for many people is black and white. The two can and must co-exist: one in the public sphere, and the other in private.

— Community Columnist Barbara Mezeske is a retired teacher and resident of Park Township. She can be reached at bamezeske@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Barbara Mezeske: Culture war drains Ottawa County