I agree with this statement by Sarah: > To me, the term "liberalism" precludes extremism by definition. Not so, the > term > "leftwing" -- not in Europe anyway.
We have confusion on this list as to what is liberal, conservative, left wing, right wing, and extremism. IMHO, extremism is a terrible state of affairs...be it left or right. If someone has a particular problem with a democrat or a republican, then so be it. But when someone is anti democrat or anti republican, that is wrong. There is so much distrust and hatred in that state that no liveable situation can evolve. Going back in threads, Sarah was also right about the protestant reformation and papal infallibility subjects that were raised. The protestant reformation was all about rejecting the Church's authority and placing authority on the individual. It's hard to tell now if that was a liberal or a conservative thing to do. But individual authority and responsibility were the root causes of the p.r. Also going back in threads were some comments on papal infallibility. Papal infallibility is a central catholic doctrine that can not be diminished by...having only been applied once. Papal infallibility is about the the church viewing itself as the arc of salvation for humans to live their lives safely in the turbulent waters of humanity. Papal infallibility is a metaphorical life line from the arc of humanity to God...with the pope on one end and Peter and Jesus on the other. This is very catholic thinking. This implies that the church will never go astray or get lost from God...because God has a tie placed upon it which manifests itself in decrees of infallibility of the church leadership. On the list....left wing political posters are able to live with this doctrine...but they are not able to live with any republican politics...because they are 'conservative'. I'll never understand how 'liberal'...'left wing'...'democrats' can remain roman catholic where the structure of the church is conservative, male only, women demeaning, authoritative, exclusive, and religiously extreme. What I'm getting at are double standards. How can we hate republicans and all they stand for....but be accepting and defending of the catholic church which won't even allow women in its leadership? What is that...conservative...extreme....right wing...or is it liberal and left? I'm thoroughly confused by these issues. Personally, I believe I think with a liberal open mindedness. At the same time, I'm very conservative when it comes to issues of safety and defense. In communicating and understanding, I tend to be liberal in wanting to give everyone their chance to speak freely. But musically, I'm more conservative because I like very structured and organized music that is challenging to the mind. Religiously, I'm liberal because I believe that things will change and truth is not a once and done thing and that all religions will evolve and develop over time. Politically, I'm a democrat because I believe their values are more humane. But voting wise, I often vote Republican because I like their candidates better. I don't understand how hateful both republicans and democrats can become toward opposing parties in the US and I definately don't understand how on this list we have people who so strongly reject conservative politicians but willingly live with conservitive religious ideology. It gives me vertigo and it is very inconsistant. pat
