Liberal vs Democrat

I hate to start off on a political note- but the radio yesterday morning really got me started! They were talking about why do people automatically say "liberal" when they're referring to Democrats? What makes a liberal?

Okay, first off, I live in a state full of Republicans and I have accepted that (well kind of). My point is that I'm not trying to start a debate or encourage converts, I just want to make something clear.

In every context I have ever been called a "liberal" it has been received offensively, because it is offensive. I am a Democrat. So many reasons that I side with the democratic party is because of my love and devotion to Jesus Christ.

I started with this long schpeel about addressing the issues to show that while I tend to vote Democrat, my lifestyle is much more conservative than a lot of people who call themselves "conservative". But then I deleted it because it moved away from my actual point.

When you call me a liberal, my version of the antithesis of that statement is not to call you a "conservative," like a self-riteous compliment, but to call you an intolerant. But is that fair? You call me a liberal which has embedded assumptions about me and my choices, which I would argue calling you an intolerant would be the same. And by "you" I mean the general "you" because not all Republicans do this.

I just hope that anyone out there that reads this can rethink calling someone a "liberal," unless you really mean it.

At the end of the day, I am a Democrat and to each his own- but the more I allow myself to think about the last 5 years or so of politics (really the range of my political consciencesness)- the more I really am becoming disgusted with the party system all together. This is becoming an "I win/you win" situation, instead of making serious decisions about what this country needs to move forward and be better.

Posted in: Politics