[VladFal]

LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE? Which are you?

Since they got rid of purgatory -–a man-made concept— Catholics have been stuck with just heaven and hell; no middle ground.

It’s supposed that among the omnipotent things He can do, God can arrange all human souls on a continuum from most damned (say, Hitler or Gengis Kahn) to most beatified (say, Paul of Tarsus or Raoul Wallenberg).

Since reality is dynamic and people die every minute, the list rearranges itself constantly as freshly-dead souls are added. But one thing never moves: the tiny gap at the precise point between saved and damned. No one is ever shifted from one side of this line of demarcation to the other, and the line is not necessarily at the continuum’s midpoint.

So, some continuums can be subdivided by a dotted line: male or female, you’re one or the other at birth or lacking surgery. You can call yourself the person in the middle; but Reality knows there is no middle.

Which side, for example, is Joe Lieberman really on? I don’t know; Joe Lieberman may not know; but God knows.

So, on a scale of two, which better describes you and/or the majority on this forum: liberal or conservative? I bet there are plenty of folks on both sides.

[viagsjicguara]

I would call myself a European conservative. Let's say center right.

[soprofaxelbis]

^ All that means is you're not a crackpot.

Right?

But what are you really? You're not allowed to occupy the tiny gap between the two.

It's the rules of the game.

[CreativeAcrobate]

Yes, I'd say you are correct, it basically means (or is supposed to mean) that one is not a crackpot.

But they're just broad terms.

I'm a Capricorn also, if that means anything.

[Uninkipsyncp]

It means you are horny.


Anywho.... I think the important thing to realize is what has been said in many texts throughout the years. Hell is other people. And Hell is also what you make of it.

Supposedly you pay for your sins in Hell, but does killing off a schoolbus of Nuns, Orphans and Puppies count the same as public urination?

Well, maybe in Hoboken this coming weekend, but what about the rest of the world?



The other thing to discuss or realize is that Liberal and Conservative are not useful as collective descriptors. I, myself, am uncomfortable with change, but at the same time, I welcome different ideas and love getting to the root of things (problem solving).

So what does that make me if I am willing to change for the good, but am still more comfortable with the status quo? A liberal minded conservative maybe?


Heaven and Hell, Liberal and Conservative only work in story books, churches and the Media. Choose your own fiction!

[Doctorpills]

The other thing to discuss or realize is that Liberal and Conservative are not useful as collective descriptors. I, myself, am uncomfortable with change, but at the same time, I welcome different ideas and love getting to the root of things (problem solving).

You managed to contradict yourself in a single sentence. Ambivalence.

Rule is, however, you have to choose one or the other. (And I think everyone's aware that sometimes it's one and sometimes it's the other.) Despite an occasional lapse from orthodox conservative thinking, no one would classify William Buckley as a liberal. (Or --in the closet-- was he?)

[UFJon]

You managed to contradict yourself in a single sentence. Ambivalence.

That was the point, expressing the existance or a co-existant dichotomy.

And that is why the labels for each do not apply. The fact that I am not comfortable with changes to my personal routine does not mean I do not believe in Global Warming.....

Rule is, however, you have to choose one or the other. (And I think everyone's aware that sometimes it's one and sometimes it's the other.) I never signed up for teh game that had those rules. And, unlike any other game, the field you are playing in often determines what side you are on. In NYC and SF, I would be considered conservative. Here at my new job, I am downright Liberal.

I ain't "both". I am neither.

[Kolovorotkes]

Rule is, however, you have to choose one or the other.

Or not vote.

[MauroDarudo]

Conserberal.

Librative.

Don't Fence Me In.

('Cuz you'll only use it against me.)

[cjOTw7ov]

... no one would classify William Buckley as a liberal.

That was back when the world was more clearly defined.

[Ayyfjicg]

The poll is too clear cut. I'm liberal on some things but conservative on others.

[QzVyZbTg]

That was back when the world was more clearly defined.

So the world back then was more clearly defined?

How do you explain these days' 60-40 senatorial standoffs? Zero Republicans on one side of an issue and zero Democrats on the other.

IIRC, votes used to cross party lines back then.

Are you developing a faulty memory, lofter? Or was that just a glib thing to say?

[banditorfv]

Politically, Liberal in Oz = conservative.

My parents are conservative and vote for Liberal.

The Labour Party has become much more conservative in recent times.

I vote for neither.

I despise conservatism (and politics).

I'm all for progress and reform (much more than the pols of any persuasion) and embrace other aspects of the definition of liberal.

"God" should play no part in any of it, but it's (still) in the constitution.

It's all very confusing and contradictory. Perhaps it's just the terminology.

[smifatv]

So the world back then was more clearly defined?

Back then it was, at its core, an intellectual definition. William F. Buckley would clear the clock of most of today's right wingers. He wouldn't let 90% of them into the club.

How do you explain these days' 60-40 senatorial standoffs?

Today? Stubborness, for the most part. Stupidity, too. And Self-Centeredness.

[paydayus]

Politically, Liberal in Oz = conservative.

My parents are conservative and vote for Liberal.

The Labour Party has become much more conservative in recent times.

I vote for neither.

I despise conservatism (and politics).

I'm all for progress and reform (much more than the pols of any persuasion) and embrace other aspects of the definition of liberal.

"God" should play no part in any of it, but it's (still) in the constitution.

It's all very confusing and contradictory. Perhaps it's just the terminology.

Perhaps capitalist and socialist are more internationally uniform, and would be more useful terms to describe an aspect of one's perspective.

[illignocearia]

Perhaps capitalist and socialist are more internationally uniform, and would be more useful terms to describe an aspect of one's perspective.

Where would you put China?

Or France, for that matter?

[boXGWf04]

I'm a progressive, far left, pinko, radical, liberal, socialist and PROUD.
Eat the rich and distribute all their children's toys.

[br`lorance]

^ I think you scared away all the conservatives.

[bely832new]

Everyone was being so delicate, so middle of the road. I figured I'd go ahead and leave no doubt whatsoever. Own it.

[mxzjxluwst]

I am a neither conservative nor liberal but a Republican, but I am more capitalist. While, I do believe and support the statement the rich makes jobs for the poor, it is kinda how the human money eco-system works.