In a talk he gave at Wyoming Catholic College (WCC), Joshua Craddock posed the idea that law affects culture. His talk inspired me to write this short paper.
According to Rick Warren, “Law is downstream of culture. By the time you make a law about something, you’re reacting, not acting.” Rick Warren is saying that our culture directly affects our laws, and to believe otherwise would be foolish. However, what Warren misses in saying culture affects law, is that law also affects culture. While it is true that culture affects law, it is also true that law affects culture, changing how people view certain activities to the point that one could say culture is, as Warren says, ‘downstream’ of law.
The laws the government sets defines to the citizens what is right or wrong. If the law states that an action, for example buying alcohol, is legal for certain citizens, then the action is seen as a right for those citizens. Except, you could argue, a person might view a law as incorrect or flawed. In which case the law is not affecting the culture by teaching people an action is okay, but by teaching people that law is flawed. However, more commonly, citizens, after living with a law for an extended period of time, believe the law entirely.
Take, for example, abortion. Before Roe v. Wade, abortion was generally agreed to be a crime. In fact, prior to Roe. v. Wade, abortion was illegal in thirty states, and legal only under certain circumstances in the remaining twenty states. However, fifty years after Roe v. Wade was established, the majority of Americans believe abortion is an inherent right. Why? Because the law taught the citizens that abortion was an okay and good action to be taken. Law affects culture to the point that actions originally believed to be horribly wrong can be accepted as a right all people have within only a few decades.
Although it is common knowledge that culture affects law, it should also be remembered that law affects culture by telling people what is right and wrong. Therefore, when people considering enacting a law, they should keep in mind that culture is downstream of law, and creating a law is changing culture.