So how exactly do these "liberal" and "progressive" Catholics reconcile their humanistic views with the...
... doctrines of the church to which they adhere? My best friend is a practicing Catholic (Latin Mass attending and all). What's strange is that in one breath she can say: "I believe the Catholic Church to be Christ's church and the Pope to be it's vicar, who has the ability to exercise a charisma of infallibility" then in the next breath: "The Church is wrong about homosexuality, women ordination, contraception, etc... but I know they'll come around sooner or later by the grace of the Holy Spirit." Can any liberal/progressive Catholic explain this kind of "ecclesiastical fence straddling"?
What exactly pushes a moderate liberal to the far left?
A desire to win. To many mainstream liberals, it’s far better for the Democratic Party to win even if as a communist party than to lose as a moderate party. Because the belief is “well, we’ll win and then we’ll moderate and anyway the worst Democratic policy is better than the best republican policy”.Both parties suffer from this to an extent but I think republicans have a better understanding of when a party has officially gone too far…in part because the press is always running segments on fascism and such. There’s no such filter on the left.What I’ve seen in the past few years is a Democratic Party go from “the Democratic Party doesn’t engage in identity politics” to “damn right we engage in identity politics and that’s a good thing”. I’ve seen liberals go from saying “no matter who wins in 2016, they can’t get us up to the kind of growth Trump says” to “oh we’ve had growth like that since like 2014”. I’ve seen liberals go from “no, the Democratic Party isn’t going to support socialised healthcare” to “its immoral not to support socialised healthcare”. You get the idea. The principles of liberals in 2018 is “support your principles unless the democrats move further left in which case adopt those principles”. This is why Andrew Cuomo is saying “America was never that great” and Bernie Sanders is calling America “immoral” and so on. It isn’t about what’s right or what makes sense, it’s about winning. This is also why for the most part democrats defend their ideas not with facts but with poll numbers. This is why Bernie’s response to claims his ideas don’t work is usually “well you know most Americans like it”.This of course coupled with a press that reports on the GOP negatively 90% of the time, conveniently runs out of time just when they’re getting to tough questions or cuts people off when they say things inconvenient to them.
What is the most straightforward statement that triggers liberals?
I think you've confused the verb “trigger” with the verb “upset.” If you want to upset liberals, you're going to have an easier time with some than with others. If you want something that will pretty much upset liberals across the board, say something horrendous like “Those damn n*****s should all go back to Africa.” Stuff like that always gets us going. (I feel funny just typing it.)Triggering is an actual phenomenon associated with PTSD. Anyone from war veterans to rape victims to abuse victims can be triggered, which is why trigger warnings are important to let people know what kind of content they are about to consume and how it may affect them.If you want to trigger me, specifically, you'd have to induce some sort of flashback from a past traumatic experience. No one and nothing has been able to do this thus far in my life, but that's not to say it can't happen. I might have some sort of trigger I don't know about, although it's doubtful. Although I have had traumatic experiences, I don't show many signs of PTSD.It's understandable that you were confused about the concept of triggers - the term is used far too loosely (yes, sometimes by liberals too). It's a serious phenomenon though, so it's best not to take it lightly.
How would you describe in exactly four words the fundamental difference between liberal and conservative thought?
Answer: humans innately good/flawedLiberals believing that humans are innately good. And conservatives believing that humans are innately flawed beings.The best concise definition I’ve found (which it seems is what you’re looking for) is from Thomas Sowell, who’s one of the best political/economic thinkers that most people have never heard of: Thomas Sowell - WikipediaWatch the video below for his answer, but here’s his man idea. People on the left believe that humans are innately good and that the institutions we live under aren’t right. In other words, there’s nothing in human nature that makes us evil or bad, and that in general we are good - and that if we can get the institutions right then we’ll finally have the utopia we all hope for.Conservatives on the other hand believe that humans are flawed from day one, that there is something in human nature that makes any of us capable of evil - that we aren’t innately good, but rather innately flawed and broken. As such, the utopia doesn’t exist - there is no heaven on earth. As such all we can do is try and do the best we can, knowing that it will never be perfect.Check out this video, where closer to the end (its only a 4 minute vid) he addresses the difference between what liberals and conservatives believe, as well as provides three interesting questions that he says destroys most arguments that liberals make:
What does it mean to be a liberal?
Very recently, I had a conversation with a friend where he said:“I used to be a staunch atheist in high school, and used to argue with theists and religious people. But, after joining college, I became more liberal about people with faith. Now, even though I disagree with them, I welcome their views, and I respect their beliefs.”The key term he used - ‘liberal’.You know why am I telling you this ?Because, in mainstream media- liberalism and atheism are sometimes seen as sister-ideologies. Even though statistics support this claim [1], ideologically speaking - liberalism and theism does not necessarily oppose each other. Hence, such statistical correlation can not be extrapolated to an actual ‘ideological causation’.This argument can be extrapolated outside the atheism-theism dichotomy as well. Repeat after me :A religious person can be ‘liberal’ towards practitioners of other religions, or even atheists.A right leaning person can be ‘liberal’ about left-leaning ideas.A pro-life person can be ‘liberal’ about pro-choice arguments.Notice, how I used three adjectives - ‘religious’, ‘right-leaning’, ‘pro-life’ to exemplify liberalism while NONE of them resonates with the ‘market-definition’ of liberalism.I am not religious, I lean pretty left, and consider myself to be pro-choice (exact opposite of the three examples). But, none of these stances define my liberalism, even though most mainstream liberals have similar stances as mine.For me, liberalism means a single thing : Being open to opinions, that are opposite to mine. I am not pro-life, but I respect your right to have a pro-life stance, even if that is solely based on your religious beliefs. I will not agree to your views, but you are entitled to have an opinion.Now, in classic sense, liberalism might also encompass being open to discriminatory point-of-views and hate-speeches. That is where, I draw the line. You can’t get away with statements like ‘Brahmins/whites are the superior race’, or ‘all Muslims are terrorists’, or ‘All women are gold-diggers’, from me. Because, I am not liberal towards such statements, and I personally believe such beliefs are toxic for the society we live in. However, this is ‘progressive’ me talking, and not ‘liberal’ me.[1] Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics
Liberal arts college major?
ok i'm really confused as to what liberal arts is. my parents keep telling me that i should go into liberal arts. what exactly is liberal arts? and what kind of jobs do most people get from majoring in "liberal arts & sciences". i see this a lot on collegeboard.com cause that's where i look for colleges that im interested in. what type of classes would i be taking? i thought liberal arts was a major but didnt realize that there were small factors to it (liberal arts in journalism, english) etc..so if i wanted to major in english wouldnt i just major in education-english or liberal arts-english (not saying that i want english just an example) whats the difference??? *i already asked this question..but im just looking for more answers. thanks for your answers!
What do the terms "liberal" and "conservative" mean?
It is easier to explain in reverse.“Conservative” comes from the word, “conserve.” “Conserve” means “to save or preserve.” “Conservative” generally refers to a reluctance to try new things. A conservative approach is the one that takes the least risk. A conservative investment is in proven, well-established companies. A conservative estimate is based on tried and true methodology, using as little guesswork as possible.A conservative politician believes in traditional values and traditional approaches. New ideas like gay marriage or a secular nation are viewed with deep suspicion. They believe that a government should be like a cage, rigid and unyielding, but with plenty of room to move around in and do as you like.“Liberal” comes from the word, “liberty.” It is an embracing of free-thinking and new ideas. Traditions are fine as long as they don’t get in the way of progress. If you want to be a Christian, that’s fine. It’s your choice. If you want to be a Muslim, Jew, Atheist, or Satanist, same thing. You want to get rich, you go right ahead. You want to live in a cardboard box in the park, that’s terrific. You want to live in a commune in a forest with your three wives and two husbands, may whatever god you believe in smile down on you.A liberal politician believes in constantly trying to improve the structure of government and believes that government has a responsibility toward society and all members of that society. Liberals believe that government should be like a blanket, soft and comforting and adjusting to the shape of what it covers.