My Definition Of A Liberal
Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
by David Tanguay
Now what's all this talk about conservatives and liberals? For one thing let me get one thing straight when I was released from the military in 1969 I went straight to work. However, I was deeply concerned about what was going on in the country and in the world. I am not a very well educated man since I never graduated from high school but watching the news, I would hear the words conservatives and liberals quite often.
Now what I mean by change is improving our materialistic world. i.e. all material products we use everyday in our material world from automobiles, (or all of our transportation needs.) To our communication technology, such as telephones, televisions, computers etc. let's just say everything that comes from man's labor and ingenuity.
From where I differ from most liberals on a moral basis is I don't believe in abortion I believe life begins at conception. Although I do believe in God, my stance on abortion has nothing to do with the teachings of the bible or any religion. I do not need religious scolding from preachers or priests telling me abortion is evil and a sin I rely on my own judgment in determining that abortion is wrong.
Most conservatives today are satisfied with our way of life or should I say their way of life. Most of them are financially well off and they are mainly concerned with their personal way of life. They lack the vision to see all of those who live unfortunate lives. On the other hand, as far as that goes they actually believe these homeless or poor are living these lives because they lack the intelligence to be successful in the real world.
They go to church and believe the Lord is favorable of them for the lives they live. They believe success in the material world comes from the grace of God and those who live outside of the great society are meant to be, by God's grace.
Now don't get me wrong many successful people in society are living by God's grace. They are merely fighting fire with fire. Although they may not know it themselves, they are actually doing the will of God.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)David,Whatever happened to the word moderate. I consider myself fiscally conservative and socially moderate/progressive. I do believe that their are unique circumstances where it is in the best interest of the health and safety of a mother or victimized child to terminate a pregnancy. Otherwise, I am pro-life like most of this country's citizens. I also don't think that gays should be condemned for an identity that they did not choose. Great article.Please log in to respond to this comment.Yes James, there was a time in my life when I considered myself a radical. I was wrong then, we mustn't rush into change it should be done gradually. Your views on gay rights I also believe in. thanks for commentingPlease log in to respond to this comment.
Dear David: up front let me say that almost anyone needing to put a label on me would label me a liberal. I am, I guess, liberal, but I consider myself a compassionate pragmatist. I want government to work and to provide the human needs that are needed when we live together. As for the moral issues, I have no problem with you being opposed to abortion. While I am pro-Choice I feel like I am personally opposed to abortion. My problem with conservatives is not what they believe, but it is with their insistence that what they believe is imposed on people who believe something different. I was raised in a strict religion that believed it was a sin to sing hymns with any instrumental accompaniment. I think it is stupid to believe that our group could sing Just As I Am a capella , and we were going to heaven, but if the Baptists sang Just As I Am while someone played along on the piano they were heading to hell. One thing I noticed was that a liberal could worship with a conservative, but a conservative could not worship with a liberal. (In this example the conservatives were the a capella people and the liberals were they hymn with piano people.) If you think singing with the piano was a sin then you must not go sing in a Baptist church because to do so would be a sin. The Baptist might miss the piano, but while they may enjoy singing Just As I Am with accompaniment, they don't feel like they will go to hell for singing a capella.
Something similar seems to happen with all conservative issues. The conservatives can't just believe gay marriage is a sin, they have to stop everyone on earth from choosing a gay marriage. Conservatives can't just hate abortion, they feel they MUST stop others from abortion, sometimes even when the pregnancy was the result of violent rape, or incest. It seems impossible to agree to disagree with a conservative because if you disagree they feel it is absolutely necessary that they force the disagreers to at least conform to their views.Please log in to respond to this comment.Thank you for commenting Tex, yes during the 60s I was all for these flower children although I didn't participate in their lifestyle. I believed they were driven by the grace of God. I was a lost soul in those days but my Lord was with me all the way. I still don't believe in abortion however it has nothing to do with religious teachings. Every time I see a new-born babe I say to myself "That little life wouldn't be here right now if his/her mother would have had an abortion"Please log in to respond to this comment.I say that too. My son was adopted. His mother was a 20 something Japanese American who thought she was in a committed relationship and found out after getting pregnant that he was not faithful too her. This woman was a professional, with a college degree and it is highly likely that many women in her position might have picked to have an abortion and instead she choose adoption. My son is now working on his PHD at an Ivy League University.
I don't think a law will stop abortion, however, and I remember back in the late 50s and early 60s there were lost of TV shows about the horrors that happened from back alley abortions, and desperate women using coat hangers to abort themselves.
I support adoption, and I want that to be the preferred option. I think using abortion as birth control is evil. But I am just not able to support anti-abortion as the law of the land.Please log in to respond to this comment.Yes Tex, I do wish women would choose adoption over abortion. As far as using the law to stop abortion, I do think we should have laws against it. For let's face it it's murder.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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