A liberal will get you killed!
A prof of mine started a course with this statement. And although he was absolutely correct, I still defend liberal as correct.
Of all the traits that can be ascribed to the term liberal, the one thing that must be for a person to be a liberal is a belief in “human rights”. That there is some intrinsic , right, truth, or justice, that stands above mans laws. In this way the criticism that “liberals have a new religion” is not all wrong. As having a “truth” that stands above mans law, has as its most close parallel those that hold a “religious truth”.
In this way the US constitution, and its affirmation that its “self evident that all men were created equal” can be seen as a pure liberal statement.
The thing is because we do actually believe that there is a “right” above mans laws, liberals will not respect mans law as the final decider.
For the “right to life” side, they actually consider a blastocyst, or an embryo, as a human. Then as liberal thinkers, they have no choice but to intervene or fail to conform to mans law. They really do need to defend the rights of those humans. So even as its currently the “political right” that is against abortion, their fight is a liberal one. The only separator for “the left” is that currently the left doesn't consider the embryo as human life.
So now to why will a liberal get you killed. While because we believe that human rights are above mans law, we cant sit back in good conscience and allow, a government, nation, religion, culture, or group, to behave in a way that contravenes our ideas. In this way we invite the the calls of “thought police”, and all the parallels to totalitarianism that's levelled against us.
The thing that the detractors don't seem to understand is that to a real liberal, the only real judgment we consider valid is, if in the face of a wrong are you a coward or a responder.
So while “the right” by definition are concerned with stability and maintaining the status quo, are not only willing but want nothing more than, to live and be left alone. Its us, the liberal who insists on interfering with others.
In order to be true to our beliefs, its us, the liberal, that has to force a change. We are the ones who need to invade another country, we are the ones who cant abide by anothers religion or heritage, when we see a wrong. And its this imperative to interfere that will get you killed. (Because others hate being interfered with).
Thing is the writer of this does believe in human rights. I will admit that we occasionally have “misunderstandings” , or as outsiders would say, “wrong ideas”. I look back in horror and realize it was ‘liberals’ who thought we needed to introduce the “savage” to our (at the time) “truth” of Catholicism. And now we feel the moral imperative to introduce peoples in the same area of our scepticism.
But as a liberal I do believe that there is truth above mans law. I try to temper my actions with the knowledge that, all humanities, (let alone my), logic is far from answers on most things. Because of that I try and keep my intrusions into others lives at a minimum. But I have to respond in some way. As a liberal I have to either accept myself a coward or take an action. I do have sympathy for all those who are being “put out” by our actions. They don't really care about, gays, trans, hats worn by religious follows, or 99% of the things that us liberals want to fight about. It must feel shitty to be told your grammar is suddenly wrong, or that people are calling you “hateful” for doing the same thing you've always done.
Just like the other side of the political spectrum we have our fair share of emotionals and gut thinkers. For all liberals, I’d like to apologize to anyone who was shit on by a non-thinker. Instead of saying “Hay that term is considered an insult now”, I’ve seen liberals act like you are the actual haters, and they have forgot (never really spent the thinking time to understand), that we are trying to actually answer to our “higher truth”.
Anyway following a liberal may get you killed. But as a liberal, I choose that above cowardice in the face “evil” I must choose action.
