Thanks to Wikipedia I know that Liberalism is an ideology, philosophy, and political tradition which holds liberty as the primary political value.Broadly speaking, liberalism seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, especially of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas,and a transparent system of government in which the rights of minorities are guaranteed.
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Liberals (Democrats) as they're called in the States are actually not followers of traditional liberalism. Classical liberalism is more closely followed by Libertarians and some factions of the Republican party. Extreme liberalism can be seen in some forms of anarcho-capitalism or anarchy. Just so you know.\n\nAnyway, conservatives are for the protection of a traditional way of life, of the status quo, of stability. Conservatives are therefore against any social upheaval or change. Conservatives feel that too much change is dangerous, destabilizing, and ultimately the death of a society, and that a strong government is needed to protect the people, even if it means restricting freedom somewhat.\n\nModerates see the value in both. They agree that change is necessary and that freedom is important and that both can be beneficial, but that full-blown anarchy is not desirable and that the government can actually help the protection of freedom.
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Personally, I believe that liberals are a valuable part of the democratic institution in the United States. So are conservatives. Discussion and debate is healthy for our republic and should be encouraged. Uniformity in thinking and political ideology is what leads to things like fascism, dictatorship and/or totalitarianism. \n\nIn the words of former President Theordore Roosevelt: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." \n\nAs a moderate conservative, I have no problem with liberals. I disagree with them and their political beliefs but welcome them in the political process and debate.
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Liberalism is a disease.
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REPUBLICAN-The Republican Party is the more socially conservative and economically libertarian of the two major parties, and has closer ties to both Wall Street (large corporations) and Main Street (locally owned businesses) than do the Democrats and less affiliation with labor unions. Republicans have a strong belief in personal responsibility, limited government, and corporate entrepreneurship. Republicans generally oppose gay marriage, oppose abortion, and oppose embryonic stem cell research.   center-right wing\n\nDEMOCRAT-The party has favored farmers, laborers, labor unions, and religious and ethnic minorities; it has opposed unregulated business and finance, and favored progressive income taxes. In foreign policy, internationalism (including interventionism) was a dominant theme from 1913 to the mid 1960s. In the 1930s, the party began advocating welfare spending programs targeted at the poor. Since the 1970s, environmentalism has been a major new component.\nIn recent decades, the Party advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention (what economists call a mixed-economy). The Party believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, even if that means a larger role for government and progressive taxation to pay for social services. They support gay marriage, abortion, and stem call research.\n\nLEFT-WING-In politics, left-wing, the political left or simply the left are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of, to varying extents, socialism, green politics, anarchism, communism, social democracy, progressivism, American liberalism or social liberalism, and defined in contradistinction to its polar opposite, the right. The left often works to eliminate high levels of inequality.\n\nRIGHT-WING-In politics, right-wing, the political right or simply the right, are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum often associated with any of several strains of monarchism, reactionism, conservatism, the religious right, nationalism, fascism, or simply the opposite of left-wing politics.\nThe right advanced capitalism, whereas the left advocated socialism (often democratic socialism) or communism.\n\nLIBERAL-Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. Liberalism has its roots in the Western Age of Enlightenment, but the term now encompasses a diversity of political thought. Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights. It seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, especially of government and religion, the rule of law, free public education, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports relatively free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of all citizens are protected. In modern society, liberals favor a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and an equal opportunity to succeed.\n\nCONSERVATIVE-Conservatism is a political philosophy that necessitates a defense of established values. Since different cultures have different established values, conservatives in different cultures have different goals. Some conservatives seek to preserve the status quo, while others seek to return to the values of an earlier time, the status quo ante.
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they like things the way they are:\n\n"Conservatism is a political philosophy that necessitates a defense of established values or the status quo."
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Excellent question and I bet that you will not get an intelligent answer.  If liberals were truly open minded you would have balanced political representation at all Colleges & Universities, instead of the typical 80 - 20% split that currently exisits.  If liberal were truly open minded they would not attack Christianity and defend it like they do other religions.  Liberals are the epitome of doulble standards.
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The true irony is that it's inherantly illiberal and undemocratic to forcefully establish a democracy within a country outside of your own.  All democracies have been born from within.  So in the case of the Middle East, liberals are not opposing the spread of democracy, they are opposing the method in which it is spread.  Progressive and liberal theories depend on freedom and personal rights.  Installing a form of government upon a foreign society violates both of these factors.
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I have read both articles before.  censorship is traditionally a conservative idea.  liberalism usually takes a strong pro-individual stance on most social issues, including censorship.  One of the central tenets of liberalism is the rights of the individual against social traditions.  conservativism has typically taken a group centered (community, nation, etc.) stance on social issues, arguing that the rights of the individual are subservient to the desires of the group.  I'm not trying to argue for either approach, they both have their advantages and disadvantages.  But, censorship is traditionally a conservative position.  \n\nThis being said, there are instances of liberal censorship.  In some cases, as in the one you cite, the censorship is consistent with liberal principles (separation of church and state, the right of individuals to be free of religious coercion).  Liberals may wish to censor speech (or expression) which is seen as unduly infringing on the rights of individuals (as in this case or in the case of hate speech.)  \n\nI would say that censorship exists to some degree in both philosophies, but it has traditionally been used more often by conservativism, due to conservativism's preferrence of the group over the individual.
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Most liberals are either gay or atheist and that is part of the problem. Liberals believe in the right to abortion, they advocate gay rights, and so on. That is why when Christians stand up for values and morality liberals can't stand it, because the Bible speaks of truth and the truth hurts. \n\nThere has to be a balance in goverment too much liberalism is very dangerous ground. The same with conservativism too much of it is very dangerous too.
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.... liberal means you want a change... which means you want someone else in office and don't agree with him.. \n\nliberal = you want change...
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Ok, here is my "case"\n\nLiberalism is an ideology, philosophy, and political tradition that holds liberty as the primary political value.[1] Broadly speaking, liberalism seeks a society characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, especially of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports relatively free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of minorities are guaranteed. In modern society, liberals favour a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and an equal opportunity to succeed[2]. Liberalism rejected many foundational assumptions which dominated most earlier theories of government, such as the Divine Right of Kings, hereditary status, and established religion. Fundamental human rights that all liberals support include the right to life, liberty, and property. In many countries, "modern" liberalism differs from classical liberalism by asserting that government provision of some minimal level of material well-being takes priority over freedom from taxation. Liberalism has its roots in the Western Enlightenment, but the term now encompasses a diversity of political thought, with adherents spanning a large part of the political spectrum, from left to right. In the context of economics, the term "liberalism" refers to economic liberalism, which is associated with the political ideology of liberalism itself. \n\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Liberalism is a mental disorder
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Nationalism:\nThe belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals. \n\nLiberalism:\n\nA political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority.
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Those who know politics know what true conservatives think.\n\nBut here is the core contradiction in conservative philosophy that liberals (via historical data) recognize as the source of so much social dysfunction when conservative philosophy is implemented:\n\n"We believe that each individual is responsible for his development. We believe that family is the best support group for individuals. And we believe that private institutions like churches and synagogues, charities, private enterprises and so forth are best support group for families." (Mark Levin Fan.com)\n\nYou can't have it both ways!\n\nHillary was right, it does take a village, not only to raise a child, but to provide for adults, too.
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There are many different kinds of conservatives. The Economist had an interesting article about the evolution of American Conservatism (which is very different than its counterparts in other parts of the world) a couple of months ago. Traditionally, conservatives want smaller government, less government interference in our private lives, and the government to be accountable for its spending (it should be noted that the first usages of the word liberalism had similar meanings).\n\nMost of the conservatives who are in power today are not of the traditional variety, they are social conservatives, or as some like to call them, neo-cons. They want their social agenda as the law. This is in direct contrast to more traditional conservatives (who now mostly identify themselves as libertarians) who want the government not to regulate or interfere in people's private lives.\n\nIt should also be noted that while conservatives say they want less in the way of entitlement programs, and are fiscally "conservative," the Clinton administration was the one who reformed welfare and balanced the budget, while the Bush administration had the largest increase in entitlement programs in over a decade, and doesn't seem to know what a balanced budget means. Liberalism does not necessarily equal large entitlement schemes, just like conservatism does not necessarily mean someone is fiscally responsible. Labels are usually misleading.
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An ideology is a system of beliefs. It has a core principal such as nationalism, sufferage, economics, distribution of wealth.  It becomes a movement if there is a social need for change that is not resolved by established groups.  For example, around 1900 the Progressive movement wanted to end the ecomonic power of trusts and make working conditions better.  This lead to specific proposals such as the 40 hour week and anti trust laws.  It became a movement when pushed by writers like Sinclar.  Politicians used the movement to increase their votes.
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Left (wing) is the same as Liberal and right (wing) is the same as conservative.\n\nConservatives claim to be more careful in making changes.  They don't like to change the way things are done unless they think the new way will be an improvement.  \n\nConservatives also tend to interpret the constitution in light of the founding fathers commentary, historical perspectives of the founding fathers, and the actual wording of the constitution.\n\nConservatives are more likely to cut taxes (except in times of war) and cut social programs (except for national defense).  They also tend to hold traditional Values,\n\nLiberals claim to embrace change.  They tend to go more with the trends than with what was done in the past.\n\nLiberals usually view the Constitution as a "Living Document" that changes with the times that we are currently living in.  They view the wording of the Constitution as symbolic rather than concrete.\n\nLiberals tend to raise taxes and increase funding of social programs (except for Defense spending).  Liberals values tend to run with the trends of their time.\n\nstephenvest@...\nYou could at least try to be objective.