"Liberal label. Dismissive. Unworthy of holding worthwhile ideas and ideals? Sorry, Baldspot, but your labeling of those who disagree with you is nothing more than bigotry, as is your bigotry of gays and lesbians.
Funny that you couch your bigotry as: "the filter of my religious experience colors what I think." Interestingly from all that I have read of the words of Jesus, he was the most unbiased, welcoming person in the history of mankind. He strongly disliked bigots, especially the ‘churchy’ kind, as exemplified in the Sadducees".
This quote is by the blogger, Mudrake, on a French blog which has banned me recently. So another conservative Christian is bearing light over there now named Baldspot. The above was Mudrake's reply to some things Baldspot wrote so effectively.
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I do find it peculiar that Liberals feel insulted when they are called "liberal." I don't feel insulted when called fundamentalist, conservative, Christian, evangelical --(as long as fundamentalist is defined as believing that there are certain "fundamental truths" which define "Christian.")
In fact, the irony is that Mudrake used to call himself "Liberal Democrat," but he seems to resent the label if a conservative uses it to describe him. Yet the term really means something in American politics and/or religion. Liberals today tend to be atheistic or agnostic --or at least religiously liberal about Biblical interpretation and Biblical claims and Biblical morality. Religiously, many or most liberals deny the truth and relevance of Scripture and the deity and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are other ways to be religiously liberal, however. One might say it is liberal to believe that Christ doesn't care if we are sinful; liberal to believe He will forgive us no matter what, even if we are not remorseful about deliberate sin. Some are more liberal in their views of what a Christian lifestyle should be. Some people are more "legalistic" than others. The less legalistic, the more religiously liberal. So there are variants of "liberalness" among the religious. I am more liberal than some Christians in my views and more conservative than others. So the term is relative.
If one is liberal theologically, he is more likely to be liberal politically, seeing no reason for laws and traditions that we have inherited from our Judeo-Christian (and even Islamic) worldviews. In fact, to a liberal person, traditional religious views prevalent in Judeo-Christian culture are a violation of church and state if they have ANY influence on our laws --such as the historical, cultural view of fetal life, the definition of marriage and the discouragement of sodomy. They believe that since these ideas are religiously influenced, government should protect the opposite positions in the name of religious neutrality/church-state separation. This really isn't logical. Just because a law has historical Judeo-Christian Biblical support, doesn't mean the law is only valid in the church and for church people. For example, "Thou shalt not kill." That's a basis for something MOST of the free world considers a civil right to life. People on all ends of the political spectrum believe this is a good law against murder --in free countries. In other systems, Communism and Islam, there is no inherent right to life for innocent civilians who happen to disagree with the government --or proselytize about their faith.
Yes, Jesus is welcoming and unsnobbish and told us to be the same --to love brother, neighbor, and enemy. So we have no justification if we hate liberals --or hate conservatives. Right, Mudly? Yes, Jesus gave the proud and superficially righteous a hard time, THOSE WHO CLAIMED THEY HAD NO SIN --and for it, they gave Him the worst time of all--leading to the Cross. He told them that if they sinned in thought, they were as sinful as those who sinned in deed --and thus all need to repent and be saved.
Liberals today, by my definition, crucify Jesus all over again--by opposing the Church of believers in their efforts to be salt and light in the culture through political representation of the people's will. They crucify the Body of Christ --the Church, and for what reason? for believing and teaching that the Bible and its standards of right and wrong are true.
Christians are remorseful sinners who have embraced the more enlightened Way taught by Jesus Christ. They seek to resist temptation to sin deliberately. We ARE to pursue holiness in our own lives --which means we seek to live in blameless ways --but we know we are not God and do fall short. But we do have His Holy Spirit to teach and guide us in His way --the narrow road that leads to life --instead of the broad road that leads to destruction.
"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible
