cultural moment of clarity

[Irelia20150604]

Hi everyone! I don't understand "cultural moment of clarity" here. It' vague to me....

the context is as follows:
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A recent YouGov poll looked for reactions to recently revealed undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials talking about abortion and fetal remains in shocking ways. The poll found little shift in public opinion, despite pro-life advocates’ hopes for a cultural moment of clarity. Sixteen percent of people said abortion should always be illegal, about the same percentage that believed that two years ago. On the other side, 17 percent said it should always be legal, a negligible two-point decline from the 2013 poll. Everyone else was somewhere in the middle.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...o-bring-clarity-to-the-abortion-conversation/

 

[Glasguensis]

It means roughly that the prevailing culture would change as a result of people collectively seeing the issue more clearly.

 

[Irelia20150604]

Oh.. Thank you. I'd like to say the sentence is beyond my understanding...

 

[Glasguensis]

Opinions haven't changed, despite pro-life advocates' hopes that everyone would suddenly be convinced by their arguments.

 

[Irelia20150604]

Hmmm... Thank you. I think I understand it now. But I want a further understanding to tackle similar sentences.

So I try to interpret the sentence literally: "a culturally significant time of clearing (all doubts/contentions/hesitation to persuade everyone to embrace their anti-abortion arguments) ". Is it right?

 

[Glasguensis]

Not really. Start with "moment of clarity" - this means to suddenly understand or see the true nature of something. Then add "cultural" - here it is being used to tell us WHO has this moment of lucidity - "the culture", meaning society as a whole. So society as a whole suddenly has a clear vision.

 

[Irelia20150604]

It's quite clear now. Thank you!