For too long, conservatives have been fighting the culture war in the wrong places. We argue over presidential elections, Supreme Court nominations, and national headlines while ignoring the quiet battles being waged right outside our front doors. We watch Washington closely—but we neglect our school boards, city councils, courtrooms, and churches.
Dan Carr
The hard truth is this: the real culture war is local, and it always has been.
Culture is not shaped first by speeches in Congress or executive orders in the White House. Culture is shaped by daily decisions made at the local level by those who teach our children, enforce our laws, preach our sermons, and govern our communities. When conservatives abandon those arenas, others rush in to fill the void.
America’s Founders understood that liberty could not survive if power became distant and unaccountable. That is why they built a system that placed authority as close to the people as possible.
Thomas Jefferson warned, “The government closest to the people serves the people best.” He understood that local government reflects the values of the people who participate in it—or the people who fail to.
When conservatives disengage locally, we should not be surprised when policies reflect values we reject. Scripture reminds us that leadership matters at every level: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2).
National elections matter, but they cannot undo the damage done by years of local neglect.
shapes the next generation
There may be no local office more influential than the school board. While Congress debates education funding, school boards decide curriculum. They determine how American history is taught, how morality is framed, and whether truth is affirmed or replaced with ideology.
John Adams understood this danger when he wrote, “Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.” Education, in Adams’ view, was not neutral — it was foundational to freedom.
The Bible is even clearer: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Whoever trains the child shapes the future adult.
For years, conservatives assumed schools would remain common-sense institutions. They did not. Progressives understood early that controlling education meant controlling culture. They showed up. Conservatives often did not.
Another major front in the local culture war is the justice system. Progressive prosecutors and judges have redefined justice to mean leniency instead of accountability. The results are visible everywhere—rising crime, repeat offenders, and communities losing trust in the rule of law.
James Madison cautioned, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” The Founders understood human nature. Laws exist because people are flawed, not because they are perfect.
Scripture affirms this purpose of government: “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil” (Romans 13:3). When local officials refuse to punish wrongdoing, they invert justice and invite chaos.
You can talk all you want about national crime policy, but local prosecutors decide whether laws are enforced or ignored. Culture follows that example.
The church cannot retreat
erhaps the most damaging retreat in the culture war has come from the church. Many churches have chosen comfort over conviction and programs over purpose. They have gone quiet when they should have been bold.
Jesus did not call the church to be invisible. He said, “Ye are the salt of the earth… Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–14). Salt that never leaves the shaker is worthless. Light hidden accomplishes nothing.
George Washington understood this connection between faith and freedom when he wrote, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” America’s liberty was never meant to survive without a morally grounded people.
Here is an uncomfortable truth the church must face: many churches have stopped soul winning.
There was a time when churches ran buses, knocked doors, and actively sought the lost. Evangelism was not an optional ministry; it was the mission. Many churches have replaced soul winning with sports leagues, entertainment, and activity-based programs.
We have traded eternal outcomes for temporary engagement.
Scripture leaves no room for confusion: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). That command did not expire. The Great Commission did not come with an exemption for convenience or cultural pressure.
Jesus said plainly, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). If the church is not actively seeking the lost, it is not following its Savior.
Bus ministries did not disappear because they were ineffective; they disappeared because they were inconvenient. Door knocking faded not because it stopped working, but because it required effort. Meanwhile, the need has never been greater.
If the culture is darker, the answer is not less soul-winning; it is more.
National Victories Cannot Replace Local Faithfulness:
Conservatives often celebrate national wins while losing locally. This imbalance explains why progressivism advances even when conservatives hold high office.
Samuel Adams warned, “It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.” The left understood this. They focused locally, patiently, and persistently.
Scripture teaches the same principle: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). You do not win nationally what you refuse to fight for locally.
The path forward is not complicated—but it is demanding.
It requires conservatives to show up to meetings, vote in primaries, support godly candidates, and encourage believers to run for local office. It requires churches to reclaim their biblical mission, preach truth without apology, and tell more people about Jesus, not fewer.
Benjamin Franklin warned that America was a republic — “if you can keep it.” Keeping it requires more than rhetoric. It requires responsibility.
Scripture commands believers, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1). Liberty is not preserved by silence. It is preserved by faithfulness.
The culture war is not coming—it is here. And it is not primarily being fought in Washington, D.C. It is being fought in your town, your schools, your courts, and your churches. If conservatives want to win, they must stop watching from a distance and start engaging where culture is actually formed.
The real culture war is local. And Freedom Frontline is where that fight must be waged.
Guest columnist Dan Carr is a pastor who live in Gulfport. He hosts the podcast God and Country.