Liberals are NOT the Root of all Evil

Amid all the bad news being reported (record deficit by our current administration; more bombings: Iraq, India, Turkey, etc.; job losses; rising costs; the list goes on and on) is the story about the gunman who killed two people and wounded seven others in a church in Knoxville, TN, because – among other things – he hated liberals and the liberal stance. I find it very interesting that there have been many stories over the years of this type and they are, as far as I can remember, always a conservative shooting a liberal. Remember all those bombings and shootings related to abortion clinics?

What’s wrong with being liberal? Are they anti-society? Are they out to take control of the world? Do they secretly worship the devil? I’ve looked around at a number of Web sites (and a selection of books) and find an unbelievable amount of hysteria and inflammatory remarks about the dreaded liberals. However, real life is not written in just black or white. Everything is some shade of gray. Unfortunately the popular press, the news media, and a great many others want to cast everyone and everything as “us vs. them” – and “them” is always evil.

Do you know where you stand on conservative vs. liberal? If you select several people at random and talk with them you are bound to find out that they have a number of views that are conservative and a number of views that are liberal. Where do you stand? If you are curious, take this Political Quiz to see where on the sliding scale of liberal vs. conservative you stand. You might be surprised.

I also came across another site, the Student News Daily, with a lengthy table listing the differences between liberal and conservative. Personally, I’ve always thought of myself as a liberal (open minded; willing to listen; willing to tolerate other’s views and differences; belief that abortion should be left up to a woman and her family, not the government; pro-environmental protection; pro-science; belief that a huge government is not the best government; among other things). I would hope that this does not make me a target for someone toting a gun just because they disagree with me. Everyone is an individual and if we shoot everyone that doesn’t agree with us there will be no humans left alive on this planet. Oh, for the record, my quiz score puts me only slightly to the liberal side.

What happened to common sense? Is it just me, or is the human race going crazy? Where is compassion, understanding, patience? Current events are scaring the heck out of me. I don’t know whether to go outside and scream at the top of my lungs or build an underground bunker and hide till it’s all over.