In the late 1800's, it was a war between geographic regions, ideology, and financial balance. In the early 1900's, it was a war to stave off hostile regimes that threatened American sovereignty. In the 1940's, the war was defined by evil dictators who gathered a huge following by lies and deceit, and establishing hatred among the unwashed masses. Currently, the war we are fighting as a nation is from within, and it is a war of world views.
Make no mistake about it -- this war is far beyond the scope of the White House, even as we now have the most radically liberal candidate elect ever, salivating in the wings, ready to take over.
In our 200+ year history, we as a nation have never been so divided by liberalism and conservatism. We have always had people who were liberal, but never has liberalism been so entrenched in key areas that offer that particular world view so much leverage. If our history is accurately investigated, there is no doubt that decidedly conservative views and standards were thoroughly woven into the fabric of our constitution and bill of rights. We began as a nation of hard working, common people with a dream of religious freedom, limited government, and personal achievement through self discipline and accountability. These identifying traits are indisputable in nature and reality, unless, of course, you are one who wants to "re-write" our history.
This is where the liberal left comes in, with their worldview that does not have room for serious Christian religion, absolute truth, moral decency, and accountability. Liberalism is, by nature, a rusty cancer that cannot tolerate order, truth, laws, and a moral standard. Liberals are, by nature, people who eschew any notion of moral living by rules established in the word of God. One of the best analogies to use is to think of the most spoiled, loud, uncontrollable brats you have ever had to endure anywhere. Think of the traits: obnoxious, disorderly, pushy, a bully, self absorbed, loud, erratic in nature, and totally committed to breaking any rule imposed. My dear friend, you just described liberalism to its very core.
Is it any wonder that America is beginning to see a rise in liberals? And not the closet type, but in-your-face, militant liberals who DEMAND that you accept their worldview, and adopt it as well. Why the rise? When was the last time you saw any parent truly discipline their child? The average parent has long ago given up parenting, and has instead replaced discipline with negotiations. Children who are clearly and openly breaking rules are given a series of "choices" in reaction to their disobedience. Spanking is now see universally as a malicious, medieval form of child abuse. A parent can risk arrest by just simple grasping a bratty child with some degree of force. And we wonder where liberals come from?
We know that Liberals are ever more adamant, ever more militant in their desire to re-make American culture in their image. That is a fact. Their methodologies are consistent, which makes their identifying traits consistent, discernible, and descriptive. Let's take a look at some of those undeniable identifiers now.
Identifying traits of Liberals:
- Diminished view of God: Liberalism is by nature, a world view that has to diminish the authority and personality of God. The sovereignty of God intrudes upon the liberal views of relative truth and situational morality. Liberal theology consistently questions the deity of Christ and the particulars of His work and life.
- Truth is relative: Truth cannot be absolute in a liberal world view. Truth is what truth is to you. Truth is what you need, when you need it, and it may not be truth to someone else.
- Intolerance: Liberals consistently parade themselves as agents of tolerance, but in fact, they only tolerate other liberal world views. Liberals are highly intolerant of conservative Christian views, and have the audacity to declare conservatives 'intolerant' even as they beat down conservatives with their own intolerance. Just look at how many places where prayer is no longer "allowed."
- Disdain for rules: liberalism by nature is always attempting to re-write rules where ever they find them. This trait ties in neatly with relative truth and intolerance. Liberals make up rules as they go, depending upon the situation. This is why it is so hard to pin a liberal on any one point. Think of Clinton trying to define what "is" means. There ya go.
- Worship of the Creation: Liberal world view dictates that the creation that we can see and touch is more important than the Creator who made it. Ties in with diminished view of God. Liberals desire to worship the planet because they see it as far more important and pressing than worshipping the Creator who is eternal. This is not a slight paradigm shift - it is outright idolatry.
- Diminished view of Life: Liberals support abortion because the right for an individual to make their own choice relative to their present situation is more precious than life itself. This ties in with worship of the creation in this way -- liberals will cry and whine much more about saving whales or some insect than they ever will about saving unborn human babies.
- Diminished expectations of Morality: Liberalism is guided by the old mantra, "if it feels good, do it" that was so popular in the 70's. Tying in with relative truth and disdain for absolute rules, liberals demand that morality be defined by the individual, not some institution or commonly held mores. Also, liberal thinking consistently moves back the 'no cross line' for morality as society devolves. Again, with no absolute standard, the standard is always changing.
- Pseudo intellectualism: Liberals hold the view that their more worldly sciences and views are far more sophisticated and empirical than the 'superstitions' of religious conservatives. Never mind that Darwinism, if it is to be believed, is rife with conjecture, speculation, and massive gaps in data that demand a leap of faith after every step. Never mind that there is absolutely no empirical evidence for any process of evolution in the current world. Never mind that the further science goes, the more complicated and intricate the world and universe is revealed to be. No, liberals must believe that their human reasons surpasses the eternal wisdom of God, or else they will be forced to deal with God on His own terms.
- Political liberalism needs victims: There really is no way to separate a liberal world view into segments, but speaking particularly about politics, without a victim mentality, liberals cannot achieve any success in politics. They must be seen as the party that "rescues" the victims and stands up for their rights. The kryptonite for liberals is an American society where businesses thrive, individuals work hard, achieve, and do well, and everyone obeys the rules and plays fair. In such a society, liberalism has no place.
- Exaltation of Individuals: Liberals openly seek to exalt individuals as 'gods' in their respective fields, be it entertainment, politics, sports, etc., even as they diminish their view of the authority and power of God. The wildly outrageous expectations and veneration of Barak Obama has recently pointed this out on a grand scale. It is also liberals who constantly exalt so called 'stars' in various entertainment industries, as if they have somehow bettered the world by singing a song or playing a role. We were all created to worship and exalt God, and if we refuse to do so, we turn to something else. Liberals turn to human kind, and the created world.
- Disdain for Punishment: Liberalism by definition favors the protection of perpetrators rather than the protection of their victims. This alone throws yet one more hypocritical wrench in their whole world view, as liberals also want to create a society of 'victims' at the same time. At any rate, copious double standards not withstanding, liberals tend greatly to run to the defense of anyone who deserves punishment. Liberals rarely ever punish their children in any meaningful way. Liberals loathe spanking under any circumstance. The ACLU is run exclusively by liberals, and the ACLU is nothing more than a "no one should ever be punished" organization. Liberalism supports illegal aliens, but forbids capital punishment. Liberalism will promote the killing of unborn babies, but will prosecute fully anyone who dares to intercept abortion clinic clients on a public sidewalk. It seems that the only people liberalism wants to punish are conservatives, and to that end, they seemingly have no mercy or limits. It is helpful to return to the "spoiled child" analogy, to understand where liberals get their inconsistent, twisted world view.
After reading this list of identifiers concerning liberals, one might draw the conclusion that all liberals are godless, disrespectful, morally bankrupt miscreants. Well, to a degree, that might describe many liberals. However, just as conservatives are individuals that tend to agree across a certain plane, liberals are also individuals and so they are not all in total agreement on every issue.
The point being made here is that in general, those who hold to a decidedly liberal world view tend to view God as distant and uninvolved, government as the answer to society's ills, and rules as something you make up at the moment when you need them. There is no way around the fact that liberals eschew absolutes. They always want room to "move." In order to keep from being accountable to someone or something else, liberals love to tout the idea that everything and every issue is in some state of flux, and therefore, needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. The same is true for them when it comes to punishment -- liberals are far more concerned with the murderer than the person murdered.
Liberals are the same the world over, so the same liberal attitudes held in America can be mirrored by someone living in Spain, China, or Australia. No matter where you go, there will be people who have a low view of God, a high view of man's ability to solve every problem, and a low view of absolute laws and consequences. They see the earth and nature as something to be worshipped, large businesses as something to distrust, and human life as something that has transient inherent value.
Liberals support abortion, but fervently support animal rights
Liberals support limiting Christian expressions, but support Islam, Buddhism, et al.
Liberals never support any war, but support terrorist and their twisted agendas
Liberals support large government, but detest large businesses
Liberals support openness to new ideas, but totally disregard creationism or intelligent design
Liberals in government always try to sound like centrists in order to get elected
Liberal politicians can actually enhance their image by embracing immorality
Liberal educators have invaded almost all of our nations colleges, and openly spew their leftist agendas, usually without any repercussions. Liberal judges legislate from the bench (a totally illegal move) and continue uncorrected. Liberal groups like the ACLU spend millions of dollars trying to "protect individuals rights" by oppressing the rights of others. In short, liberalism is a completely contradictory, twisted, irresponsible, and flawed world view that has been a cancer in religion, governments, and societies.
So, what makes liberals tick? Basically, its the need to self govern ones own life without any outside intrusion or limits.
Liberalism, also known as secular humanism, has at its very core the belief that each individual is their own 'god' of their own world. Therefore, people who want to hold to a decidedly liberal world view are in constant conflict with orthodox Christian beliefs and values, even if they fail to see this disconnect.
Even as those with a liberal world view tumble through time, grasping at ego-centric "truths" without a core, unchanging truth to anchor them, they still have undeniable identifiers that tie them all together when you get to the core beliefs and standards. And those standards, when examined in full light, are seen for the inept, unstable, and destructive beliefs that they really are.
Conservatives need to recognize the views of liberals, see them for what they are, and then begin to form their arguments against them as they engage the culture at large on behalf of the good of all people everywhere.