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To: Kaslin
"7 Non-Political Differences Between Liberals and Conservatives"

In a sense, everything is political. By that, I mean that any given individual's entire weltanschauung is reflected in their politics, their religious beliefs, and in fact, virtually every interaction they have with their fellow human beings.

The primary differences between contemporary American conservatives and liberals can largely be found in the Declaration of Independence. Conservatives call upon "the laws of nature and nature's God," and "unalienable rights." Conservatives identify absolute baselines in truth and morality and assess the world around them in how closely things approach, or deviate from those ideals. Liberals live in a realm of moral relativism and situational ethics. Liberals live in a paradoxical cloud in which they accept as their only absolute rule the premise that "there are no absolutes." Both views apply not only to their respective view of politics but virtually every other aspect of their lives as well...economics, diversions and hobbies, sexual relationships, work, charity, etc.

When it comes to the individual's relationship to the state, a conservative who believes in the immortality of the soul, views one's citizenship and membership of the state as a transient identity, albeit it one with duties and responsibilities. The soul will outlast the state, and indeed, many governments do not outlive the average human lifetime. A conservative views the state (consistent with the Declaration of Independence) as something instituted to serve the individual and protect his unalienable rights.

A hard left, liberal secularist sees the individual as subordinate to the state, and views the state as an entity to be servedby the individual.

Virtually every difference between "conservatives" and "liberals" derives from these dichotomies.

24 posted on 01/25/2011 7:40:06 AM PST by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: Joe 6-pack

So where does a conservative secular atheist fit into this paradigm?


28 posted on 01/25/2011 7:43:52 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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