Why do liberal cultures always seem to get more liberal?

I think the failure to resolve these questions, and the liberal commitments of the culture, generally, are exactly why we always move in a more liberal direction.

Obama Won't End the Culture Wars

"Because the cultural left and cultural right hold to irreconcilable orthodoxies on these questions, we find scant cultural consensus. That's life in America. Unless we become a homogenous country, we will continue to struggle to live together, staying true to our deepest beliefs while respecting the liberty of others to stay true to their own.

But we do not live in a libertarian Utopia. We can't have it all. If, for example, courts constitutionalized same-sex marriage, as gay activists seek, that would have a ground-shaking effect on religious liberty, public schooling and other aspects of American life. Without question, it would intensify the culture war, as partisans of the left and right fight for what each considers a sacred principle.

What irritates conservatives is the liberals' groundless conceit that they fight from a values-neutral position, while the right seeks to impose its norms on others. Nonsense. Marriage was a settled issue until liberals began using courts to impose their moral vision on (so far) an unwilling majority. Who fired the first shot there?

Culture war is inevitable, because it's in the nature of democratic, pluralistic society. It only ends when one side wins, by force or force of reason. As all drill sergeants know, you prepare your troops to move in for the kill by first dehumanizing the enemy.

If we keep the humanity of our opponents squarely in front of us - as Obama, to his great credit, seems determined to do - we can keep the culture-war casualty count low. That's about the best we can hope for."

Or we could learn to respect peoples' consciences on most matters.

If not, both sides should get used to a culture, especially of young people, who disrespect the law.

And that is why America persistently becomes more genuinely liberal, without any need for utopias.