{"id":1666,"date":"2015-04-01T17:48:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T23:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=1666"},"modified":"2015-04-01T17:51:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T23:51:00","slug":"progressives-liberals-and-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/04\/progressives-liberals-and-liberty.html","title":{"rendered":"“Progressives”, “Liberals” and Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When did American politics develop the animosity that currently exists, that one\u2019s political opponent is one\u2019s enemy, to be squashed at every opportunity? \u00a0When did we lose the idea that our opponents are well-intentioned, disagree with them though we may? \u00a0When, for instance, did people cease to recognize that, in a great many instances, when it comes to social issues, we need to balance rights that conflict with each other, and, with economic issues, there are genuine disagreements about what laws and regulations and government policy do in fact maximize prosperity and how this should balance individual property rights?<\/p>\n

Hence, Christians who believe that gay marriage wrongly deprives children of a mother and father are, according to the Left, are hateful bigots who deserve nothing other than to go out of business. \u00a0(And, by the way, the Indiana pizzeria has now closed<\/a> in response to threats.) \u00a0Pro-lifers cruelly wish to deprive women of their personal liberty, and at the same time wish suffering upon the terminally ill. \u00a0And anyone who hesitates to raise taxes to higher levels, in order to fund greater levels of welfare benefits, hates children and wishes suffering on them. \u00a0And Tea Party-types, for no identifiable reason, are all racists who wish to re-enslave blacks.<\/p>\n

I, of course, am perfectly generous in spirit and would never assume the worst of those who disagree with me politically . . . though I recognize that I likely have blinders on myself.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another question: \u00a0do you remember when people on the Left started to self-identify as \u201cProgressives\u201d rather than \u201cLiberals\u201d? \u00a0To be honest, I\u2019ve forgotten, at this point.<\/p>\n

Repeatedly, in the twitterverse, over the last couple days, what with the Left\u2019s freak-out over the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, there have been accusations that liberals are not living up to their name; illiberally denying people the right to free speech, freedom of association, or other liberties. \u00a0Not to mention, of course, that the free speech codes and \u201caffirmative consent\u201d laws are hardly \u201cliberal.\u201d \u00a0(Of note, the German political party \u201cDie Liberalen\u201d \u2014 the Liberals \u2014 are about free markets.)<\/p>\n

And I wonder whether the switch in name meant more than just a new trend, but communicates something else. \u00a0\u201cProgressive\u201d emphasizes the desire of progressives to, well, \u201cmake progress\u201d towards some goal, understood to be boosting the fortunes of the poor and other groups deemed to be marginalized \u2014 and, of course, their attitude is \u201cbetter to take as many actions as possible, regardless of whether they\u2019ll work or not, for the sake of doing something.\u201d \u00a0\u201cLiberal\u201d implies, of course, liberty \u2014 which the Progs\u2019 agenda has little interest in, as a principle.<\/p>\n

Which means that I think that complaints that the \u201cboycott Indiana\u201d faction are betraying their principles by failing to respect others\u2019 freedoms, are falling on deaf ears.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When did American politics develop the animosity that currently exists, that one\u2019s political opponent is one\u2019s enemy, to be squashed at every opportunity? \u00a0When did we lose the idea that our opponents are well-intentioned, disagree with them though we may? \u00a0When, for instance, did people cease to recognize that, in a great many instances, when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"Progressives", "Liberals" and Liberty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When did American politics develop the animosity that currently exists, that one's political opponent is one's enemy, to be squashed at every opportunity?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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