From Conservapedia

A liberal (alternately called a left-winger or leftist) is someone who advocates an increase in government spending, power, and control, such as ObamaCare. Liberals often support the censorship and denial of biblical Christianity[1] and consistently conservative viewpoints. Liberals who are a part of the secular left prefer atheism/agnosticism over the Christian faith, as atheism has no objective morality to hinder their big government plans.[2]

Increasingly, liberals side with the homosexual agenda, including homosexual "marriage". Liberals favor a welfare state where people receive endless entitlements without working.[3] The liberal ideology has degenerated into economically unsound views and intolerant ideology. All liberals support, in knee-jerk fashion, the opposite of conservative principles, while lacking an actual ideology or values of their own.[4] Many of them cannot understand Christian language.[5] Liberals are especially prone to believe conspiracy theories, particularly those that denigrate people or views they disagree with,[6][7] and they are increasingly intolerant of opposing viewpoints.[8] Modern liberals reject classical liberalism, which is now an aspect of conservatism.[9]

Polling data has consistently shown that a larger percentage of Americans identify as conservative, rather than as liberal, by a margin of 35% to 26% as of 2017; while the gap between self-identified conservatives and self-identified liberals has been narrowing in recent years,[10] liberals and "progressives" oftentimes falsely claim that liberals outnumber conservatives. Liberals are especially active at secular universities, however.[11]

Political positions and practices of liberals

Liberals support the following political positions and practices:[12]

Wasting money on ineffective government programs (the significant economic problems in the Eurozone due to government debt will no doubt increasingly discredit this aspect of liberal ideology and make things more difficult for advocates of liberal economic ideologies)

Many liberals are increasingly attempting to limit free speech.[13][14]

Some liberals support:

Liberalism in 2019 America: "Death Camps for Trump Supporters Now!"

Liberal intolerance

See also: Liberal intolerance and Liberal bigotry Many modern liberals have a tendency of to be intolerant of ideas that contradict liberal ideology which increasingly includes many strange notions[65] (see: Liberal intolerance). For example, radical feminists commonly claim that one is not born a man or woman, but one becomes a man or woman through gender socialization.[66]

A Pew Research study found that “consistent liberals” were most likely to block others on social media for disagreeing with them politically.[67]

Liberal intolerance and violence

As noted above, may liberals are increasingly attempting to limit free speech.[13][14] For example, there have been several intolerant, liberal mobs which have shut down conservative speakers at college campuses (in 2017, there were two cases in the United States where violence or threats of violence were used to shut down free speech at college campuses).[68][69][70]

Democrats used paid leftists agitators to disrupt Donald Trump rallies.[71][72] As far as the paid agitators, veteran left-wing strategist Robert Creamer confirmed on hidden camera that Hillary Clinton “is fully in it” and “Hillary knows through the chain of command what’s going on.”[72] The agitators were sent to Trump rallies to anger Trump supporters and incite violence.[71]

There have been a number of attacks against President Donald Trump supporters after his election which the mainstream media underreported.[73] In addition, there have been a number of instances of leftists and Trump supporters clashing at Trump rallies after his election.[74]

Liberals and politics/law

Forced collectivization of healthcare.

In the United States, liberals currently use two Clauses of the U.S. Constitution to try to expand their power: the Commerce Clause and the General Welfare Clause. The General Welfare Clause mentions "promoting the general welfare". This to a liberal means taxing the rich at increased rates and redistributing that money. The Commerce Clause, on the other hand, says that Congress has the power to regulate trade with foreign nations, between the states and with the Indian tribes. Since the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt this clause has been interpreted very loosely and has resulted in the federal government expanding its power. The latest example is The Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare. In the ACA, the liberals justify the individual mandate by saying it regulates commerce between the states.

The decline in liberal principles can be illustrated by how Franklin Delano Roosevelt opposed and condemned public sector unions, stating that the idea of collective bargaining can't be transferred from the private to the public sector, as that would result in the government being unable to carry out its duties. Yet today, decades later, Democrats and liberals are in lock-step with public sector unions, as they "donate" money to the reelection campaign in exchange for more taxpayer money in their wallets and fluffed up pensions.

Current dictionaries describe the liberal ideology by pretending that a liberal is "a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties" or "a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets,"[75] or "open-minded or tolerant, especially free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc." or "favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties."[76] In practical usage, the term "liberal" is more closely synonymous with "radical," "immoral," "anti-freedom," "elitist," or "bad."

Liberals and uncharitableness

See also: Liberals and uncharitableness and Atheism and charity In March 2008, George Will wrote at RealClearPolitics concerning the United States:

“ Sixteen months ago, Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, published "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism." The surprise is that liberals are markedly less charitable than conservatives.... If many conservatives are liberals who have been mugged by reality, Brooks, a registered independent, is, as a reviewer of his book said, a social scientist who has been mugged by data. They include these findings: -- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227). -- Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.[80] ”

Atheists and agnostics often reject Biblical morality (and therefore conservative Christianity ) and hold to moral relativism. Therefore, it is not surprising that per capita atheists and agnostics in America give significantly less to charity than theists even when church giving is not counted for theists.[81]

Liberal politicians and uncharitableness

The political magazine the American Spectator featured an article which focused on liberal politicians and uncharitableness exposing the hypocrisy of the liberal politicians it featured.[82] In addition, Barack Obama has been criticized concerning his lack of charitable giving.

Liberals and superstition

See also: Irreligion and superstition

[83] The Wall Street Journal reported: "A comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows ...that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition , tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience than evangelical Christians."

The Wall Street Journal reported: "A comprehensive new study released by Baylor University, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology.[84]

Also, in September of 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported:

“ The reality is that the New Atheist campaign, by discouraging religion, won't create a new group of intelligent, skeptical, enlightened beings. Far from it: It might actually encourage new levels of mass superstition. And that's not a conclusion to take on faith — it's what the empirical data tell us. "What Americans Really Believe," a comprehensive new study released by Baylor University yesterday, shows that traditional Christian religion greatly decreases belief in everything from the efficacy of palm readers to the usefulness of astrology. It also shows that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, far from being resistant to superstition, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in pseudoscience, such as evolution than evangelical Christians.... This is not a new finding. In his 1983 book "The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener," skeptic and science writer Martin Gardner cited the decline of traditional religious belief among the better educated as one of the causes for an increase in pseudoscience, cults and superstition. He referenced a 1980 study published in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer that showed irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born-again Christian college students were the least likely.[84] ”

Secular left

See also: Secular left

The secular left consists of left-wing secularists who are able to exert their influence in many countries. They support "strict government secularism".[85]

Decline of the secular left

See also: Decline of the secular left and Religious conservatism and politics

In some regions where the secular left has considerable influence, they are losing an increasing amount of their power.

Religious conservatism is a big driver of social conservatism. Religious conservatism is growing in the world and it is affecting politics (see: Religious conservatism and politics).[86][87]

Liberal Christianity and marital infidelity

See also: Liberal Christianity and marital infidelity and Liberal Christianity

According to a 2007 study reported in the Journal of Family Issues, adherents of liberal Christianity are more likely to engage in marital infidelity than theologically conservative Christians.[88]

As noted above, liberals are more likely to adhere to evolutionary belief than conservatives. A study conducted by the Australian National University, revealed that belief in evolution is associated with moral permissiveness.[89]

American liberalism

See also: American liberalism and Liberal elitism As noted above, American liberalism is a political ideology that dominates the Democratic Party. Its heroes include Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King.

According to the Gallup Organization, in the United States, 25% of the population were liberals and 36% were conservatives in 2016.[90]

In 2017, the Financial Times declared about American liberalism:

“ ...as Democrats struggle to reinvent themselves in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, their party remains captured by a toxic mix of identity politics and corporate interests. The establishment wing is still convinced that racism and misogyny, not economic populism, sank Mrs Clinton, and that wooing big corporate donors is still the way to victory in the next election. While money matters, and there may have been some voters who turned away from Mrs Clinton because of gender, the key reason that the Democrats lost in 2016 and are struggling to rebrand themselves is that they have failed to grasp two things. Firstly, most Americans today care more about jobs than identity, and secondly, the same downward mobility that pushed the white working class towards Mr Trump is moving up the socio-economic food chain, and fast. As research by groups from the International Monetary Fund to the OECD to McKinsey has shown, the technology-related job disruption that resulted in rust belt job losses and wage stagnation since 2000 is beginning to affect white-collar workers across nearly every sector.... But Democrats over-estimated the power and relevance of identity politics (there are still more whites without a college degree than minorities), and underestimated the breadth and depth of labour disruption. In any case, says Robert Johnson, president of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, “it was always a mistake to separate out issues of race and class, because they go hand in hand. In economically insecure times, fear of the ‘other’ increases.” It is a phenomenon exploited by Mr Trump.[91] ”

In recent years, American liberals have experienced a number of political losses and many liberals in the United States have become embittered (see: American liberalism and 21st century political losses),

Democrats and most media outlets in the U.S. are blatantly liberal.[92] Liberalism in North America today practices three primary tactics to attack the Republican Party, and sometimes to attack American values in general. These three liberal tactics can be pronounced using the following acronym: SIN. Liberals (1) shift the subject, they (2) ignore the facts, and they (3) name call.[93][94]

Liberals typically support a "mixed" economy, a policy similar to that of fascism.[95]

Liberals claimed a monopoly on compassion, decency, and social justice (as defined by themselves), posing as the sole defenders of civic virtue against a horde of backwoodsmen, racists, and religious fanatics. [4]

“ There's another goal, from my point of view, which is to try to lay the groundwork for a radical political force which would conceive of itself as distinctly to the left of moderate, reformist American liberals. And that has two aspects. One is to try to change that liberalism, to transform it by analysis, critique, and activism; the second is to build a radical movement which would be an autonomous force in its own right, which would be distinct from the traditional American liberal consensus. This radical part of the program involves not simply supporting the liberal students against conservative students and conservative professors, but trying to act on them, to push them to the left. It also involves trying to find and support, even trying to help create, networks of radical students in law school and of radical professors around the country — students and teachers who see themselves as wanting to go a lot further than most people want to go.[96] ”

Liberal Rankings of Congress Members

The National Journal compiles the votes of each congress member each year and uses the information to create rankings[97] of how liberal each member of the United States Congress is. In addition to showing the voting records of each member and given an overall all ranking of liberalness, the National Journal also ranks congress members by liberalness in the areas of social, economic, and foreign policy.

American liberalism, demographics and expected tipping point in the decline of American liberalism

See also: American atheism and Decline of atheism and Global atheism

Due to the explosive growth of global Christianity in traditional cultures and their influence on Western Christianity and the higher birth rate of conservative Christians and religious conservatives, social conservatism is expected to rise.

The Birkbeck College, University of London professor Eric Kaufman wrote in his 2010 book Shall the Righteous Inherit the Earth? concerning America:

“ High evangelical fertility rates more than compensated for losses to liberal Protestant sects during the twentieth century. In recent decades, white secularism has surged, but Latino and Asian religious immigration has taken up the slack, keeping secularism at bay. Across denominations, the fertility advantage of religious fundamentalists of all colours is significant and growing. After 2020, their demographic weight will to tip the balance in the culture wars towards the conservative side, ramping up pressure on hot-button issues such as abortion. By the end of the century, three quarters of America may be pro-life. Their activism will leap over the borders of the 'Redeemer Nation' to evangelize the world. Already, the rise of the World Congress of Families has launched a global religious right, its arms stretching across the bloody lines of the War on Terror to embrace the entire Abrahamic family.[98] ”

Liberalism in Europe today

The French liberal politician François Hollande was the President of the French Republic from 2012 until 2017.

In Europe, on the other hand, parties that call themselves liberal are moderate in outlook, ranging from centre-left to centre-right, promote typically economic and business freedom. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[99] is a party of the European Parliament that represents most liberal parties from European countries. Similar policies are promoted by many liberal parties throughout the world,[100] such as the Liberal Party of Australia.[101]

Trade unions and socialist parties often criticize politicians for promoting lower taxes on business, or more flexible hiring and firing laws, by calling them "liberals" or neoliberals. Thus, just as in the US, "liberal" may occasionally be used as a term of abuse. But when someone is called "liberal" in Europe, it has an entirely different meaning than in the US. In fact, the US meaning of liberal is more similar to the politics of both European socialist/social democratic or Social/progressive liberal parties, in contrast to conservative or fiscal liberal parties which again falls into the right-wing part of the political spectrum.[102]

Historical Liberalism

In history, the word "liberal" has meant different things at different times, and was associated with individual liberty in prior centuries. In the postwar period, liberals supported government intervention in the economy and welfare state policies, as well as peaceful coexistence with the communist block, which are not liberal policies in the sense of classical liberalism. After the end of the cold war, with the demise of socialism and communism, many liberals embraced some ideas from economic neo-liberalism, and coined it the "Third Way". In the area of national security and foreign policy liberals in the U.S. failed to define a consistent stance, even after the events of 9/11 and the beginning of the war in Iraq. Liberals generally support affirmative action, gay marriage, and abortion.[103]

Original meaning: Classical Liberalism

Liberalism is a political philosophy with freedom as its core value. The term was originally applied to supporters of individual liberties and equal rights, but, in America, the term has come to represent a movement of social change that often conflicts with conservative values such as moral values and traditions derived from Northern European Protestantism.

See Classical Liberalism. Compare Libertarianism.

Influential/famous liberals

See also: Infamous liberals

David Thorstad,[105] a founding member of NAMBLA.

Liberal Organizations of thought

Source: The Politix Group

Quotes on Liberals

"I never use the words Democrats and Republicans. It's liberals and Americans." -James Watt, Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so." -Ronald Reagan

“Liberals see racism where it doesn't exist, fabricate it when they can't find it and ignore it within their own ranks.” ―Michelle Malkin

"Words mean nothing to liberals. They say whatever will help advance their cause at the moment, switch talking points in a heartbeat, and then act indignant if anyone uses the exact same argument they were using five minutes ago." -Ann Coulter[109]

"The reason any conservative's failing is always major news is that it allows liberals to engage in their very favorite taunt: Hypocrisy! Hypocrisy is the only sin that really inflames them. Inasmuch as liberals have no morals, they can sit back and criticize other people for failing to meet the standards that liberals simply renounce. It's an intriguing strategy. By openly admitting to being philanderers, draft dodgers, liars, weasels and cowards, liberals avoid ever being hypocrites." -Ann Coulter

"If you can somehow force a liberal into a point-counterpoint argument, his retorts will bear no relation to what you've said -- unless you were in fact talking about your looks, your age, your weight, your personal obsessions, or whether you are a fascist. In the famous liberal two-step, they leap from one idiotic point to the next, so you can never nail them. It's like arguing with someone with Attention Deficit Disorder." -Ann Coulter

"Inside many liberals is a totalitarian screaming to get out. They don't like to have another point of view in the room that they don't squash and the way they try to squash it is by character assassination and name calling." -David Horowitz

"End results that work that don't involve government threaten liberals." -Rush Limbaugh

"I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living. I'd like to know why they make excuses for cowards who spit in the faces of the police and then run behind the judicial sob sisters. I can't understand these people who carry placards to save the life of some criminal, yet have no thought for the innocent victim." -John Wayne

Quotes by Liberals

"The number one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S." -Joe Biden

"There is no reason the nation of Africa cannot, and should not, join the ranks of the worlds most prosperous nations." -Joe Biden[110]

"Romney wants to give EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION BILLION in tax breaks to the rich." -Joe Biden

"Will the Mars Rover be able to show the flag the astronauts planted there before?" -Sheila Jackson Lee

"Isn't it a little racist to call it Black Friday?" -Joy Behar

"Is there such a thing as a man-made stroke? …I know what this [Republican] party is capable of." -Joy Behar

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." -Al Gore

"The center of the earth is about a million degrees." -Al Gore

"A zebra does not change its spots." -Al Gore

"The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government lied." -Jeremiah Wright

"Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs." -Nancy Pelosi

"My favorite word, that is really easy, my favorite word is 'the word'." -Nancy Pelosi

"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” - Nancy Pelosi

"Why can't I just eat my waffle?" -Barack Hussein Obama

"Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go." -Barack Hussein Obama

"Welcome to Cinco de Quattro!" -Barack Obama

"The time has changed for come." -Barack Obama

"They support democratic institutions in Kyrzakhstan" -John Kerry

"My fear is that the whole island (of Guam) will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize." -Democrat Congressman Hank Johnson[111]

"Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security." -Obama foreign policy adviser Richard Danzig

"If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate." -Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry[112]

"What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?" -Marion Barry

"My appetite is so good that I can eat the table cloth right off the chair." -Democrat Congressman Joe Moakley

"Those who died in the earthquake, their lives will never be the same again." -Barbara Boxer

"I have to march because my mother couldn't have an abortion." -Maxine Water[113]

"I dare you, you little fruitcake!" -Democrat Congressman Pete Stark

"I root for hurricanes" -James Wolcott

"I've got a secret for you: Kiss my a**." -George McGovern

"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened." -Norman Thomas, six-time U.S. Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America[114]

"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." -Hillary Rodham Clinton[115]

"Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did." -Walter Mondale

Modern liberalism and the use of mockery rather than reasonable argumentation

See also: Atheism and mockery

In a BloombergView article, Stephen L. Carter wrote about modern liberalism:

“ But the left has work to do, not only on policy and organization but also on attitude. Too many of my progressive friends seem to have forgotten how to make actual arguments, and have become expert instead at condemnation, derision and mockery. On issue after issue, they’re very good at explaining why no one could oppose their policy positions except for the basest of motives. As to those positions themselves, they are too often announced with a zealous solemnity suggesting that their views are Holy Writ -- and those who disagree are cast into the outer political darkness. In short, the left has lately been dripping with hubris, which in classic literature always portends a fall.[116] ”

Liberal influence in extreme ideologies (and vice-versa)

Although the following individuals were not liberals, they shared several left-wing/liberal views in their ideologies, which overlapped with American/European liberalism.

Marxist/communist figures

In 2019, several members of the European Commission sang the far-left Marxist song "Bella Ciao."[132]

Fascists

See also: Nazism and socialism

See also

References

See also