What is Liberal?

I know this question has come up before, but I am really interested in getting peoples take on what 'liberal' is. Much of the media, and people in general seem to use the word as a general smear akin to nazi or commie.Yet, in a historical sense the term liberal and liberal thinking has allways assosciated it'self with liberty. That is social freedoms and liberty. Many of our forfathers were considered liberal thinkers such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.Philosophy, Litterature, Poetry, etc. all fall under the heading of "Liberal Arts". So... what the heck is so awfull about being a liberaly minded person?It seems alot of times (on other message boards I have been too) when someone becomes very intelectual on a subject, or phillosophical, invariably some of the "conservative" members screem "liberal" over and over untill the thread is closed.I don't get it. Is there a vein of anti-intelectualisim in all this?

Im not gonna pick at our post cuz as you said this is the general conservative view. However I must point out that this whole paragraph is a load of bull.1) This nation is not a christian nation, it never has been, it never will be. The govt. has no buissness puting tax dollars into anything that promotes religion.2) All the other cases you mention are baloney, if they did occur they were wrong. And this has nothing to do with Liberal/conservative considering that many conservatives are against church state integration.

Bravo Jaz, you echo my views quite nicely

No, you don't, It's a fact. A very well established fact at that. You are just going to have to deal with it, I'm sorry.

That's a good question and as a matter of fact polygamy laws weren't institued untill the mormons came along. They were laws directly targeting the LDS. This is part of the reason they fled to Utah. Animals aren't "persons" in the constitutional definition. Thus they are not subject to the same rights aside from those granted to them under various animal protecting legislation.Further, animals cannot enter into a legaly binding documents since they don't have the cognative faculty to even understand what a legaly binding document is.

the topic on homosexuality has been beat to death on this forum and so has your position. Do a search for "homosexuality" in the site search feature.I don't want this thread to degenerate into one of those as this is not the actual topic.This message has been edited by Yaro, 07-21-2005 03:05 PM

I agree that the question of choice is irelevant, I just get irritated when people try and posit the choice issue as a reason to NOT have gay marriage.The fact is, consenting adults of any sex should be allowed to enter into a legaly binding document which establishes their relationship on a legal level.

Ya, I actually agree on this. To be truthfull, I think Government should call it all Civil Union and leave marriage to the churches. Alternatevely they could get out of the marriage buissines all together. Sadly, yes Unfortunetly the debate has gone off topic and has become another general political thread. It's kind o hard to avoid your buttons being pushed and spiraling down the rabit hole of ideological debate.

?Sorry, I don't understand.

Ah, yes. Good work! We need more like you around

It depends, late term, yes, early term no. You cant vary well hold up an acorn and say "Don't destroy that! It's a 100year old oak!", likewise you can't hold a recently fertalized egg and call it a human. There are lines, that have been drawn to deleniate this issue.Also, what happens to the kid after he is born? Give it up for adoption?Do you know what the state of orphans is in this country? It's pretty bad, many kids don't find loving families and are often turned out onto the streets with poor education and social skills. A great number of them turn to crime.

Hey Faith, Im curious, you didn't mention what your view would be if Islam was the predomenant religion today. Say 10 years from now Islam is top dog, and states start allowing Imams to call for prayr over school PA's.What would you think of that?And as for this: The puritans, and those who maintained their belifes, were backward morons. I'll just list a few key points:1)Slavery
2)Indian Genocide
3)Theocratic Viewpoint
4)Witch TrialsThat should be enugh.Realy Faith, don't you think we have matured beyond what some shortsighted European zelots thought of the world?

A clump of cells is not a human being anymore than an acorn is an oak tree. The "unborn human" is not a person at this stage and they are not being killed. They were just a small clump of developing cells, no more no less.It is interesting to note that many fertalized eggs never even afix to the utirin wall. That is to say, a woman could be fertalized after intercourse, but the egg still passes thrugh the body. This is a common occurance, are human beings ending up on maxie pads and tampons all over the world? They weren't babies.

I wouldn't call myself a leftist, Im more of a libertarian. And i am not fooling myself. In the first trimester the fetus is bearly even a fetus. No it isn't. A 2 year old is more like an oak sapling. A 2 year old can thing, can feel pain, go to the bathroom, eat, sleep, and performe all it's life processes because, *drum roll* it's a human being! No, because in the first two months the foetus has bearly begun to form. It has no higher brain function, no nervous system, no bones, Hell you could bearly tell the thing from a tadpole. So yes, it's a lump, not yet human, it can't think, feel etc. They are not human beings. If I amputate your finger, did I murder you? factually it is not a human being, it is an embryo. A cluster of cells, it has no heart, no brain, no bones, no mouth, no eyes, nothing. It isn't human yet, it dosn't think. THOSE ARE THE FACTS! LOLOLOL! Spare me.This message has been edited by Yaro, 07-21-2005 09:36 PM

I belive that early term abortion (first trimester) is perfectly ok. I don't belive it should be taken lightly, personaly I think people should be practicing safe sex and not doing anything dumb/risky.All options should be discussed and considered. Ultimately it is the womans final decision.