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| Source:Joel Austin- one of the first great German philosophers. |
From Joel Austin
Liberalism and the Christian Church, which is what I guess what this piece is about.
To start off as a Liberal I believe not just in the U.S. Constitution, but the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Fifth Amendments, are my favorite amendments, because they guarantee Americans right to think for themselves, speak for themselves, and act for themselves.
I'm an Agnostic, so obviously I'm not a believer in religion or God, because as a Liberal I'm a big believer in reason and facts and only put faith in things that I trust and know. Not what some spiritual power that may or may not exist anywhere in the world or universe. Liberals (at least in the classical, if not real sense) are the least romantic people you'll ever meet, at least in a political sense, because we're such believers in reason. And we're also the least idealistic people that you'll ever meet, because we believe in reason and progress, not idealism.
But having said all of that, just because I'm not religious, doesn't mean I want Big Government to tell people that they have to think and act like me. One of the great advantages of living in a liberal democracy is that everyone can act and think for themselves. This is not some communist state where individualism is almost completely eliminated and outlawed, including religion. Or some theocracy where it's not just religion that's forced on everyone, or a certain type of religion that's forced on everyone, but a certain fundamentalist religion that's forced on everyone.
If there are liberal religious values, I guess they have to do with the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated. Respect others property and privacy, as much as you respect your own. And treat everyone as an individual, not as a member of any particular group, whether it's racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, whatever it might be. But myself as a Liberal I'm not a believer in religion.
