Liberal

Recently, a Facebook friend whom I respect and admire posted a definition of the word liberal on their timeline.  As such posts are bound to do there were comments reflecting a difference of opinion.  My Facebook friend gave an additional remark and then, preferring not to have it escalate into an argument, stated that desire and gracefully added that we are all entitled to our opinion (in case you are wondering, I made no comments on the post, but chose instead to share my thoughts in this article).

We are all entitled to our opinion.

Yes, it is true that everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and opinions, and I thank God for that!  It is also true that what we really think and believe in our hearts always translates into what we speak and what we choose to do or not do, or in other words, how we actually live our lives from day to day.  This is something we all have in common.  What we really believe affects what kind of citizens we are, the kind of mom or dad we are, the kind of employee we are, etc .  In other words, and by logical extension, what we think and how we think affect our families and every other cultural institution of the nation made up of those individuals and families.  That is why it behooves all of us, regardless our political leaning, to make sure that our thinking goes beyond mere sound bites, clichés and groupthink, that have a tendency to unthoughtfully and inaccurately divide and pigeon-hole people into a one size fits all category.   It is my hope that this article will be food for thought to assist others in that process.

I did some Google searching (which I invite you to do as well) and found that this particular definition of the word liberal is not wholly complete.  Some items have been left out.  There are also other definitions that don’t include these statements.  However, I think many who would declare their political leaning as liberal or conservative would probably agree with this posted definition.   That being the case, and since this was the definition my Facebook friend shared, I will focus my comments on this definition.

Liberal: Possessing or manifesting a free and generous heart; bountiful.

                By this definition, this would include any person with a generous heart.  Few would argue that this isn’t a good quality to possess.  This is a person who is motivated to give not out compulsion, but out of a free and generous nature.  Free and generous giving by people implies giving not motivated by compulsion, but also giving with no strings attached.   Generous and liberal giving isn’t limited to just money, however it is limited to giving what one actually possesses or owns.   One cannot give away what is another’s and truly call it generosity.  At best it can only be called stewardship or management.  For example, a payroll manager can’t decide to be generous with their employer’s money and start handing out bigger checks.  If they do so without the company owners’ approval in order to curry favor with other employees, it is not considered giving liberally from a generous heart, but malfeasance born of a heart of greed.  We often we view political leaders as being liberal when they are generous with public monies.  But this is a false idea because they are only managing the money of the people they are representing.  Generosity is only generosity when it costs us something personally.

Liberal: Appropriate or fitting for a broad and enlightened mind.

                This definition raises more questions than it answers.  Who decides what is considered appropriate and fitting for a broad an enlightened mind?  Do we go with a simple majority?  The most vocal “majority”?  The best funded “majority”?   The institutions of higher education?   How do I know if I my mind has been enlightened or remains unenlightened?  Just how broad minded do I have to be?  There are nice and well educated folks who are light years apart on some issues and both might consider themselves enlightened and broad minded thinkers.  But that is a logical fallacy because they can’t both be right.  Also, when did being opened minded or broad minded become an end in itself?  To quote G.K. Chesterton, “The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid.”

Liberal: Free from narrowness, bigotry, or bondage to authority or creed.

                Not many would disagree that being free from narrow-mindedness (unthinking) and bigotry is a very good thing indeed.  But do we really believe that all authority is bondage and being a true liberal means being free of all authority?  Not one person I know who consider themselves liberal would buy in to such a notion.  This statement implies that being liberal means being free from bondage to the authority of following the courage of your own convictions, the authority of parents, employers, the authority of any government agent including judges, police, firefighters and God Himself.  And if that’s not bad enough, the statement is self-defeating because it is in itself a creed (and a narrow-minded one at that).

Liberal: Any person who advocates liberty of thought, speech, or action.

On the surface, who can argue against this?  Of course by definition this has to include advocating (which goes beyond mere tolerance) for all thought, speech and action, including conservative and religious thought.  However this is not the case.  For example, which is considered liberal, advocating for thought, speech and action related to same sex marriage or traditional marriage?  Anti-abortion or pro-choice?  The problem with this definition is that what you take away from it depends upon how broad and how “free from the bondage to authority” your thinking is when you define the word liberty.