By: Caritas Puella
Often the “L” word is spoken pejoratively. Nothing can impugn a person’s credibility more-especially in the political arena-than having the “L” word tossed around or about you, particularly by an opponent. But why, when conservatives never hear their apparent “narrow mindedness” referred to as the “C” word.
Liberal is a scary word for many media and political punsters. The “L” word wretches up such ire in some folks that they can’t even see straight. As a result, they often sputter inaccuracies that “grow legs” as they say in politics. Whereas conservatives with their “correct” thinking-or what some folks like to call “self-righteousness”-regard free thinkers and those with progressive, not staid, but socially-conscious ideas as problematic. Who can we blame for that? How about God?
Yes, the God of Creation. Why? Well, didn’t God give humans free will? Didn’t God give us the ability to make choices based upon common sense? Didn’t God Himself-or perhaps Herself since humans reflect God-exercise liberal thinking? If God were not liberal, then He-for the sake of argument-would have created only one gender. Or, possibly, nothing at all! If God were not liberal, then all of creation probably would not exist. God would have not elected to share life and the universes with others. Ain’t that liberal?
If God has all the attributes that humans and theologians so generously endow Him with, then why has our planet had life forms on it for eons of time if God were not liberal?
If God were conservative and truly fundamentalist, then humans ought to have been toast millennia ago. But here we are still fighting, killing, and polluting the planet almost out of existence.
If God were like some of the conservatives, He should have declared war on us. But no, He allows the rain to fall for everyone, the crops to grow for all, the sun and moon to shine on everyone, and the birds to chirp their lovely songs for everyone’s ears. Now if that isn’t liberal, then what is?
God allows us humans to do our thing! But we humans somehow think that some of us have the right to mandate how other humans think, especially in the case of liberals. So, the next time you hear the “L” word being bandied around, take a reality check. Then remember that probably most of the advances made by humankind were the results of free-thinking liberals-folks who thought outside the box. That’s the real meaning of the “L” word.