Does Liberal Mean "free"?

[jeffpugh]

Greetings. I had a bit of a dispute with my mother over this when I was filling out my university dorm application. I had to fill out a survey which had 4 political stance choices ranging from "very conservative" to "very liberal" or something like that. My mom told me to put down conservative because "conservative means free" or something like that... she was trying to explain to me something I already knew, and I disputed that it didn't mean that. At all (for the record, I picked very conservative. I'm hoping to put up a big poster of Papa Bene ). Anywho, I just wanna hear people dispute and heckle about it here (in a Christian way, of course).

My answer to the dispute was that liberal meant a sort of "rebellion" against traditional values. My mother tried to use Liberal and Liberation as something synonymous, but I don't think that works...

Anywho, this is beyond a scuffle at home. I'm expecting to have this argument in the future. Let's talk about it!

[Justin86]

Well, the word "liberal" is derived from the word "liberty", as far as I know, but other than that freedom and liberals have nothing to do with each other.

[rkwright]

I think so much of it is the context and development of the word.

Liberal and Libertarian both derive from liberty. So in that sense they are both grounded on freedom.

However, the way liberal is used in society, and probably the way it was bring used in the questionnaire you filled out is not meant to be taken "are you very free?"

Certainly conservatives value freedom also. I think conservatives value economic freedom; no government intervention. But conservatives want more government intervention in social aspects; ie the government should outlaw gay marriage, obscenity laws, polygamy laws, ect.

'Liberals' value social freedoms, like the freedom to marry whoever you want, freedom to smoke whatever you want, freedom to choose whatever you want. But they don't value, IMHO, economic freedoms; they would rather the government intervene in the economy.

So in a weird way I think both conservatives and liberals both value freedom and seek to restrict some freedoms.

[Galloglasses]

In its simply objective sense? No. Liberal is akin to the word wanton. "I am liberal with my trigger finger"

In the context of the socio-political sense? Well, if you have to ask, you clearly haven't been paying attention. Liberals are psuedo Fascists.

[dairygirl4u2c]

it's all semantics and stereotypes and differing premises.

liberals were for women's rights and freeing blacks. liberals are for ensuring the disenfranchise are no longer disenfranchised. generally speaking, i don't see how you could dispute this to mean free or not. freedom of choice, at least when it's disputable whether it's a speron. ensuring all have basic access to the earth's bounty when there's so much, if they'e wiling to work etc

conservatives don't think taxes should be oppressive. and peopel whould not be killed under teh pretext of freedom of choice.

see it all depends on how you look at it.

kinda related to...
there's stereotypes for everything too.... mindless liberals/conservatives, smart liberals/conservatives.
there's not a very strong smart conservative archtype, at least in popular culture that i am aware of. i guess tehre's the ideas of people like chesterton etc but that's not pop knowledge.
the mindless liberal archtype isn't very strong either tha n i know of.

there's conservative yockel's for the mindless ones, and every university has the steroype of smart liberal professors and in gneral.

maybe i'm just bias.....

Edited June 11, 2008 by dairygirl4u2c

[aalpha1989]

Are we talking literally or what? like others have said, it is derived from Latin "liber" which means free. but I also agree that liberal politics are certainly not free politics.

[Galloglasses]

[quote name='aalpha1989' post='1568258' date='Jun 11 2008, 12:04 PM']Are we talking literally or what? like others have said, it is derived from Latin "liber" which means free. but I also agree that liberal politics are certainly not free politics.[/quote]
Its usually the opposite. My way or the high way Politics.

[CatherineM]

When it comes to spending the government's money on the marginalized or disadvantaged, I am very liberal. I tend to be more conservative with money when it comes to things like the tax payer money going to finance weird outdoor art, professional sports stadiums, or foreign aid to despots.

[Galloglasses]

And 'Humanitarian' Governmentally sponsored charity organisations. Technically I don't trust any charity thats Government sponsered, I prefer the Catholic Charitees like Trocraire of St.Vincent De Paul. Altough I hear the latter has been bought by a company a year or a few back.

[Deb]

Actually "Liberal" has many meanings. In a Political context it means favorable to progress or reforms and freedom of actions, free from bigotry or prejudice.
It also means generous, broad minded, charitable, all things that do denote a kind of freedom. The opposite of that would be reactionary, intolerant, narrow minded, selfish, bigoted or conservative.

To be liberal is to be free. Liberal cannot define any person completely though. Everyone has areas in which they are more liberal or more conservative. Example: Catholics believe in social justice and charity and compassion for the poor. This is a liberal stance. Liberals believe all should contribute to the well being of others, usually through taxes and conservatives, while they also believe in contributing to the well being of others, don't want it being done with their tax dollar. They prefer to believe that if social programs were removed from government funding, the rest of the citizenry would step up to the plate.

[fides quarens intellectum]

[quote name='Justin86' post='1568150' date='Jun 11 2008, 11:17 AM']Well, the word "liberal" is derived from the word "liberty", as far as I know, but other than that freedom and liberals have nothing to do with each other.[/quote]


they used to. now we call them classical liberals.

[jeffpugh]

I should mention that I joked with my mom when she was reading through the questionare (which is what actually sparked this "freedom" debate) that I'm not liberal or conservative, I'm Catholic. Unfortunately, we're on different plains of consciousness altogether on this subject... anywho, thanks for your posts so far. Special mention to Dairy. Thought it was a good post.

[Didymus]

[quote name='Sacred Music Man' post='1568060' date='Jun 11 2008, 11:37 AM']for the record, I picked very conservative. I'm hoping to put up a big poster of Papa Bene ). Anywho, I just wanna hear people dispute and heckle about it here (in a Christian way, of course).[/quote]

what exactly does Pope Benedict have to do with conservatism again?

[geauxsaints26]

Liberal means "Change We Can Believe In"

WoooHooo!

Yes We Can!!




j/k

[CatherineM]

Good question. In the KofC magazine we just got today, it has a bunch of quotes from the Pope's visit to the US. One really stood out for me.

"Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."

To me that sounds like a traditional Liberal's concern for the poor, and a traditional Conservative's concern for moral issues. I especially like seeing him quote John Paul's emphasis on life from "conception to natural death."