Sarah Harte: Culture wars divide us into rival tribes and ignore our shared humanity 

The abuse directed at Emer O'Neill, and other recent events, should prompt us to ask what would happen if the crusaders among us decided to love themselves and their neighbours

After Emer O’Neill called out comedian Tommy Tiernan for a racist joke, he apologised and the pair came to an understanding — but keyboard warriors weighed in and subjected Ms O’Neill to a tirade of racial abuse. File picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall

Last month, various news items raised the suspicion that we are living through a version of ‘the culture wars’.

Some say culture wars are phony disputes between elites. Others say they are a convenient distraction from the fact that while the ‘one percent’ steal the world’s resources the deluded worry about pronouns.