Posted on 08/29/2003 12:56:26 PM PDT by FreeRepublicLoginName
Just a little background......my whole family is as left liberal as the perfessors. I come from that background and bought into it until I was in my late twenties. I can probably tell you most of what you believe and occasionally can guess why.
What these perfessors are totally blind about should scare your socks off. They actually believe the tripe they are selling.....which is so transparently shallow, so juvenile in its formulation that if you believed any of it you should start to re-think your life immediately.
If you want to actually seek truth, be intellectually honest and be open minded.....become a conservative. It's the only place for real diversity of thought and genuine discussion.
Here's hoping you are open to the truth......
1. Do you believe in God?
Yes.
2. Do you believe Reason has limitations? If so, what are those limitations?
If by reason, you mean logic, then yes, it has been mathematically proven that logic has its limitations. Google Godel and his Incompleteness Theory.
3. Did your father use corporal punishment to enforce discipline? (Were you whipped, beaten, or spanked when you misbehaved?) If so, how frequently? (Once per year? Once per day?)
No.
4. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "To be morally strong, you must be self-disciplined and self-denying. Otherwise, you are self-indulgent and such moral flabbiness ultimately helps the forces of evil."
Depends on the individual circumstance.
5. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "Punishment is nurturing in that it teaches discipline, self-reliance and respect for authority."
Depends on the individual case.
6. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "Your poverty or your drug habit or your illegitimate children can be explained only as moral weakness and any discussion of social causes cannot be relevant."
Depends on the individual case.
7. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "The highest moral good is nurturance, including empathy, fairness and protection, but not painful punishment."
Depends how you define painful punishment. Is grounding painful?
8. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "Obedience comes out of love and respect for the parent, not out of fear, and strength is in the service of nurturance."
See #7
9. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "'Conservative tolerance for inequality' [as described by liberals], should, in fact, read intolerance for forced equality, and acceptance of the natural order of things in which inequality is generally the rule. "
Disagree with the question's premise -- there's no such thing as forced equality. Some pigs are always more equal than others.
10. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "The modern North American liberal is 'a keen advocate of change mainly to fulfill his/her ego needs -- needs for power, influence, self-advertisement, self-promotion and excitement.'"
Depends on the individual.
11. Is it possible for a Liberal to be a good person? Is it possible for a Conservative to be a bad person?
Of course.
12. Is morality (by which I mean right and wrong) absolute, as described in the bible, or is it relative?
A few rules are absolute, the rest are relative, IMHO.
13. On a scale of 1 to 10, are you happy in life (generally speaking)?
10.
14. Which statement do you agree with more: "people are generally good and trustworthy" or "people are generally bad and will try to harm you"?
Tend to agree with the first statement.
15. Is corporal punishment (discipline through whipping, beating, or spanking) an acceptable practice?
Non-physically harmful spanking, yes.
16. On a scale of 1 to 10, do have anxiety (or fear) in your life (on a day-to-day basis)?
I'm about a 2, with 1 being lowest.
Unfortunately,if you are a liberal,you are already bogged down in a definition game.This is one of the central points of disagreement today between liberals and conservatives,whether something has true meaning,or that it means "whatever you want it to mean".I remember this started with bad art,and has now worked it's way through the law.Your questions about religion and morality underscore your grappling with this question.You can't navigate without the north star.No matter what time of day it is,or what season of the year,the north star is always north.Without it,you are adrift.Such is the case with moral relativism.My dad once told me,"If you don't believe in God,pretend you do".We need a moral compass in our lives,or we will not be able to live together
As for conservative thought,you might try reading the US Constitution.It is very short(no pictures,though)and written in plain English,such that it requires no interpretation,even for those with the most modest education.I speak for myself when I say that conservative thought in this country centers on this document and it's supporting polemics,namely the federalist papers.
Of course,at the time,the founders considered themselves "liberals", derived from a word that means freedom,to distinguish themselves from the dogmatism of religion and nobility.Conservatives today seek to retain that form of government that has resulted in political and personal liberty never before seen in the history of mankind.If you want to read of what may have been considered the conservatives during the founding of the nation,you might want to read the anti-federalist papers,written by those who feared(and as it turns out,they were correct)a federal government which would usurp power to a degree undreamed of by the founders.
Even though they wrote in safeguards to provide protection for what the anti-federalists feared,the judiciary of today tells us that these simple english words need "interpretation" through the glass of one schooled in the law.Your moral relativism,of which you seem proud,is closely related to this disease of "legal positivism" that plagues our nation today.The conservative point of view is dismissed as "strict constructionism",although the 10th amendment makes us all "strict constructionists.Simply put,the constitution means what it says,not what some Freudian shrink thinks the founders might have had in mind when they wrote it.
Your questions pertain to human nature,and for that I would recommend Federalist #10,written by James Madison.It is,IMHO,the most concise treatise on human nature and man's attempts to exploit it's strenghts and restrict it's limitations that has ever been written.
A few of your comments betray your confusion.You say that you believe in "free" education.Very little of anything material is "free".Ask the teachers to give up their pay,the builders to give up theirs,as well as the book publishers,etc.,I think you get my point.
The leftists in the street think they have "rights" to free health care,housing,education,etc.What they seem to fail to realize is that for every "right" of this nature that they lay claim to,they are creating an obligation for someone else.Lets say that med school students decided it was just not worth it anymore,and we ran out of doctors.Where is your "right" to health care now?
Anyone who is twenty and not a liberal doesn't have a heart.Anyone who is thirty and isn't a conservative doesn't have a brain.
Liberal Big Government Leftist = Lyndon Johnson or Ted Kennedy. Believed all largess and good from the Government (Read DemocRAT Party). Would have knee jerk reaction against non progressive tax schemes like 15% flat tax.
Libertarian = Many on this board. Legalize Drugs, don't care about gay marriage and other social issues but for small unintrusive government.
Classic Liberal = Hubert Humphrey (Who I admired) was the last in my opinion. Capitalistic but profit should be for the good of ALL the people, cradle to grave social safety net, high progressive taxes for government programs. Pro America.
Today's DemocRAT has subverted the Classic Liberal to become the party of interest groups and intolerance.
You seem to be a thinker with few of today's liberal knee jerk reactions. Today's Liberal ALWAYS has an opinion on everything and it is always predictable. As you may have of noticed the opinions of self described Conservatives are all over the place. If you really want to have some fun ask about the difference between Paleocons and Neocons (which I consider myself to be).
You opinions on Religion seem to be like many non-Mormons from Utah that I have known. The feeling of exclusion must be tough to take as a kid.
I feel that you just might be evolving or solidifying your political beliefs. Hang around this board a while when you are ready post on News/Activism where the real hard cases lurk.
And even tribalism though the idea of "celebrate diversity," I might add. They used to believe in the "melting pot" into the great American culture, but no more, sadly.
With that statement you have shown yourself to be an illogical person.
You're actually saying that there is nothing in your life that functions as an ultimate concern for you.
You may want to seek treatment for the mental confusion (cognitive dissonance) you're suffering as the result of holding opposite attitudes and beliefs at the same time.
For starters we dont believe in killing babies.
You worship no god?
2 Yes, creativity is a necessary addition to it. For an example, see posts 20-24 here.
3 No
4 Disagree
5 Disagree
6 Agree
7 Disagree
8 No opinion – obedience is for dogs and I don’t know much about dogs.
9 No idea what is being asked – equal rights should be the ideal that we strive for
10 No idea – all I know is that modern “liberalism” is a force of evil, because it seeks to take my freedom.
11 Depends on your definitions
12 If there is a God, then morality is absolute. I am not arrogant enough to pretend that I know what his idea of morality is.
13 10 – but which end is happy and which unhappy?
14 first one
15 It is not the preferred method, IMO, but acceptable for the less intelligent people who resort to it
16 1 – see question 13
My questions to you:
1. Are you a Liberal as in a supporter of expanding government’s role in our daily lives, or in the older sense of the word, meaning the exact opposite?
2. Do you agree with this quote?
"The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in which manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it."
Morality is defined by applying this premise to one's society. Ask yourself, "If everybody did _X_, would I be happier?" If the answer is yes, _X_ is moral, and if the answer is no, _X_ is immoral. My moral compass is myself.
That premise only works if the person in question is basically good and decent. Example... I want to steal from Joe. Should I do this? Well, if everyone were to steal from Joe, would I be happy? Sure I would because I hate Joe.
It's a darn good thing you aren't Manson...
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