OR: Ultimately Everyone is Red and Blue
Imagine a TV Show where the host challenged you, the final contestant with the following situation:
"For the top prize of $50,000, we have placed a liberal beyond the curtain and you need to tell us the following:
1. Do they support Abortion?
2. Do they attend church less than once per week?
and finally:
3. Do they support gay marriage?
If you said: Yes to all three you would probably be wrong. I say that because while the stereotype for liberals (and conservatives) is that they might support abortion and gay marriage and not go to church, the reality is much different. The fact is that the reality is much different and there is even a chance you could say no to all 3 and still be right.
Let's explore the reality of the situation so that we can see why the stereotype is so dangerous. More liberals than conservatives support the "woman's right to choose" (Question 1) but probably would not personally have an abortion themselves. Most not only do not support, but dislike the idea that a woman would use abortion as a birth control method. Abortion rates dropped under Bill Clinton, perhaps the most liberal President we have had in our lifetime, even while sex education became a hot button issue and condoms were often debated as a way to stop AIDS. Even as "liberal" as we seemed to be, morality did not decline.
The second question is a little more complex. Many of my friends are members of my church and are very liberal. But they define liberal in regards to the first question as I noted and their love of the Lord is based on belief on the love shown them by a God who gave his only son to save us from sin. That (love and sacrifice) is something they believe in easily. They accept on faith that God is worth the time and energy and support helping the poor, eliminating hunger, and working to make the world better shoulder to shoulder with conservatives. They accept that others differ on many issues of faith but agree on a belief in God (and if Christians, in Jesus). Some of the best discussions I've ever heard were about such religious issues as King David's infidelity and Moses's reluctance at the burning bush. But, once again, the issue isn't believing in God, it's about the individual's view of the personal relationship between each person and God, not about a policy of boycotting Disney because they have a Gay Pride Day.
The third question, once again, makes many liberals think about the idea that personal happiness (remember that old "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness") is important BUT, not gay? Not your problem. This doesn't mean we don't care, but rather on the priority list of most heterosexuals, gay rights are a lower priority than making a living, raising a family, and trying to stay in touch with our world. I have gay friends and probably so do you, regardless of whether you are liberal or conservative. They are no more threatening to me than anyone else and indeed, I'm more threatened by people who would take away my right to take out a book from the library without the Attorney General knowing about it.
Now, this article could have asked the same kinds of questions about a conservative like (1. Do they support an increasing national debt in excess of 7.4 Trillion dollars, 2. Do they think George Bush has never made a mistake as President or 3. Were there WMD's in Iraq?) Again, not all conservatives agree on every issues.
The truth is that there are no "typical" liberals or conservatives. I am very conservative, personally, on economic issues. I lean liberal on social issues because I see how poverty and homelessness ruins both the individual as well as society. I politically am independent, voting for both parties based on my judgment of which candidate is best qualified and has the best grasp of the issues that I think are important.
Does Alec Baldwin represent me? No. Does Susan Sarandon? No. Does my pastor? No. You might not believe it, but my pastor is the most liberal of the 3. Surprised? Why? Because the sterotype of a pastor is conservative?
Maybe you begin to see the point. Judge Garrison Keillor on what he says and does, not others. Judge Dennis Miller on what he says and does, not others.
Warts and all.....
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