Sunday, March 11, 2007

Do You Realize What Being Liberal Means?

A real big thanks to Big City Lib for drawing attention to Conservapedia, the far-right's counter to Wikipedia. You can have some serious fun at this site. For example, I decided to look up Conservapedia's entry for "liberal." Here it is:

"Liberal is often a term used to describe any person who considers themself a strong proponent of a large and controlling government. They believe that powerful bureaucracies are needed in order to provide equality, personal safety and many other services such as health care.
Their speech and actions convey emotional or popular opinion which is often used as a method of solving the perceived problems of society.

Liberals also tend to admire popular or authoritarian figures such as dictators, movie stars, or anyone holding positions of power that are in line with a their own philosophy. Since the election of George W Bush in 2000 they have become overtly angry in their demeanor with anyone who disagrees with them while showing support for dictators such as Hugo Chavez (who recently nationalized many of the industries of Venezuela).

Liberals openly use their collective positions of power within government to perpetuate their causes such as the current popular notion of a man made climate change. (Man Made Global Warming) Scientists who have openly disagreed with this premise have been threatened by the removal of their licenses or titles.
Retrieved from "http://www.conservapedia.com/Liberal"

There you have it. We admire dictators, believe in man-made global warming and use intimidation and threats to silence scientists who disagree.

"The term "liberal" is used often in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Some examples of liberal beliefs include:

gun control

taxpayer funding of abortion

prohibiting prayer in school

equal rights for men and women

distributing wealth from the rich to the poor

government programs to rehabilitate criminals

same-sex marriage

amnesty for illegal aliens

teaching of evolution

increased taxpayer funding of public school

protection of endangered species

taxpayer-funded rather than private medical care

increased power for labor unions

disarmament treaties

increased taxes

dependence on government programs such as welfare

reduction of millitary expenses"

The site then gives us this, "An alternative definition of liberal is anything that is not conservative."

"For example, the American Heritage Dictionary includes this definition of "liberal": ' Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas ... '"

There's a real nihilistic element to this sort of thinking. It admits of no mutuality of interests or beliefs whether political, economic, religious or social. It thus casts liberals as the natural enemy of conservatives. We skulk about, using "our collective positions of power within government" to "perpetuate" our causes such as the preposterous notion of man-made global warming. There's a real McCarthyist phobia in this thinking.

2 comments:

Red Jenny said...

Funny, sort of. And quite revealing - is that really what they think liberal means?

The Mound of Sound said...

It would be funny if this didn't represent the thought process of a growing group, the fundamentalist Christian uber-right. Two good books touch on this bunch of loonies - "American Theocracy" and Chris Hedge's "American Fascists". You can also find the sort of fundamentalist drivel that reflects these views on the web. These people aren't bashful in the slightest. They really believe they're going to somehow defeat all semblance of normality and decency.