Are you a "liberal" or a "conservative"?

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In a few other threads, about dissent and liberal catholicism, some have brought up the point that many of the “liberals” are older while many of the “conservatives” are younger (at least, in terms of the Catholic Church and fidelity to Church teaching). I thought it might be an interesting exercise to create a poll and put that theory to the test. It is of course only as reliable as any CAF poll ever is. 😉

First, I must say that I really dislike using these politicized terms in reference to the Church. I think it creates a lot of tension. That being said, I still find myself using the terms (or something like them) as they do seem to be descriptive of some things that are acutally going on in the Church today.

Second, I suspect that there will be a good number of people who refuse to vote in the poll for the reason stated above: they don’t like to use those terms. That’s certainly fair enough. I would encourage those people to at least think about voting for the option that best describes them, acknowledging that it’s not a perfect fit.

Third, if you think this is a stupid poll and no good can come from it, feel free to let me know. You may very well be right! But, sinces fools walk where angels fear to tread, I will proceed anyway… 🙂
 
Just a further point of clarification, this thread is in no way to be a measure of anyone’s political leanings. If you are conservative or liberal on political social policy, frankly, I don’t care (and I mean that in the nicest way possible 😃 ). That’s a topic for another thread.

The purpose of this poll thread is to look at people’s views of the Church.

And I know we can get into hair splitting over the use of these particular terms, but I’d really like to avoid that. I think we all know the general meanings that most people apply to these terms, so let us just go with those. Here’s a quick test:

IF you think that:
  • women’s ordination is still open for discussion
  • the Church can change Her teaching on artificial contraception
  • homosexual activity is not intrinsically disordered
THEN you should put yourself in the liberal/progressive/heterodox camp.

If you believe these (and all other Church teachings) cannot change, then put yourself in the conservative/traditional/orthodox camp.
 
I am 46 and consider myself to be very conservative. I may be wrong in my understand of the two terms, but to me, a liberal choosing to follow what ever teaching suits their needs or wants. They want to do things Their Way. (I don’t mean this as a slam against the liberals, this is just my understanding of the term)

A conservative does things the way it is written or handed down from those in authority, the Way it is Written,a more “black and white” approach to things if you will.

I am more of the “Rome has spoken, and that is good enough for me”. I kinda figured that the Church has been here for 2000 years and knows WAYYYYYYY more then I do.👍
 
15yr old conservative. My entire family is liberal though.🤷
 
Joe_5859 said:
Just a further point of clarification, this thread is in no way to be a measure of anyone’s political leanings.
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Although it is an interesting comparison. Sometimes it is said that people become more conservative politically and culturally as they get older. I wonder if the same would hold true on matters of faith?

I am not sure if this poll will be an accurate reflection of what Catholics believe. CAF members are a bit out of the mainstream, at least in my experience. Furthermore, the CAF members who find this poll and decide to vote in it are a self-selected group. First, the member must value reading the Social Justice forum, and second s/he would have to feel strongly enough about the issue to take sides. So we should be hesitant about generalizing about the outcome of the poll.

That said, it will be interesting to see the results.
 
So far, the poll shows that 11% of those aged over 45 are liberal, while 25% of those aged 45 and under are liberal. So much for the theory. Of course with only 17 votes this is far from over.
 
Dale_M said:
Although it is an interesting comparison. Sometimes it is said that people become more conservative politically and culturally as they get older. I wonder if the same would hold true on matters of faith?

I am not sure if this poll will be an accurate reflection of what Catholics believe. CAF members are a bit out of the mainstream, at least in my experience. Furthermore, the CAF members who find this poll and decide to vote in it are a self-selected group. First, the member must value reading the Social Justice forum, and second s/he would have to feel strongly enough about the issue to take sides. So we should be hesitant about generalizing about the outcome of the poll.

That said, it will be interesting to see the results.
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Thank you for this post. Certainly, this poll, as with any CAF poll, does not necessarily reflect the views of the larger population. But I find it interesting, nonetheless. 🙂
 
i consider myself as conservative, though sometimes i dislike my attitude towards any issue, thinking " i must behave in more tough way".
now i have an issue, somebody helps.
my country is in eu, but with very high level of corruption. how much and why, it is not a time now to discuss. generally, one can do many things, if enough money are involved.
tomorrow my big daughter has an examination for driving licence. the teacher told her to " bring with her 75 eur " and will get the licence. otherwise she would not pass and that will cost her 500 eur for additional course. obviously, if we do not pay to him, the second option is most probably the result.
i told her - no way, we do not participate in the corruption. we try until you get the licence.
my conservative thinking told me that, i was firm with my daughter.
but, inside myself, the liberal started talking - which of the laws of God you think, you will violate, if you pay those 75 eur, make your daughter happy and save another 500 eur from the family budget.
it is easy to be conservative when i read the Bible, when i see obvious disruption of God’s decalog.
but not easy, when such " small cases " coming.
i even think, that i am not violating any part of the Decalog, but only because i have to give good example to my daughter, i have to reject such payment.
somebody to help…?
 
Age is insignificant, but let us just say that I am a conservative leaning moderate Catholic under the age of 18. I am a little confused on a few issues, otherwise I’d be purely conservative.
 
I am 16-30 years old and consider myself to be a moderate although I also consider myself to be traditional and orthodox so I voted for the option that said “conservative/traditional/orthodox” even though I am not conservative.
 
As far as the Catholic Church goes there is either orthodox or heterodox.
 
buffalo said:
As far as the Catholic Church goes there is either orthodox or heterodox.
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Well, considering that I am not a Catholic but an Anglo-Catholic, I do not fall in to those categories then. However, I do consider myself to be an orthodox Anglo-Catholic.
 
Joe_5859 said:
In a few other threads, about dissent and liberal catholicism, some have brought up the point that many of the “liberals” are older while many of the “conservatives” are younger (at least, in terms of the Catholic Church and fidelity to Church teaching). I thought it might be an interesting exercise to create a poll and put that theory to the test. It is of course only as reliable as any CAF poll ever is. 😉

First, I must say that I really dislike using these politicized terms in reference to the Church. I think it creates a lot of tension. That being said, I still find myself using the terms (or something like them) as they do seem to be descriptive of some things that are acutally going on in the Church today.

Second, I suspect that there will be a good number of people who refuse to vote in the poll for the reason stated above: they don’t like to use those terms. That’s certainly fair enough. I would encourage those people to at least think about voting for the option that best describes them, acknowledging that it’s not a perfect fit.

Third, if you think this is a stupid poll and no good can come from it, feel free to let me know. You may very well be right! But, sinces fools walk where angels fear to tread, I will proceed anyway… 🙂
Click to expand...
Interesting poll. BUT I think I am in the middle as far as conservative/liberal aspects are considered. Probably more traditional than liberal, but have no problem with Vatican II which some Trads. seem to have. 🙂
 
conservative Papist over here!!!

How can one be conservative in the church and politically liberal… you can’t support abortion and be a conservative catholic…just wondering…not trying to digress???
 
Rhetorical Question: Am I a conservative orthodox traditionalist?
Answer: I am a Catholic. 🙂
 
Monicathree said:
conservative Papist over here!!!

How can one be conservative in the church and politically liberal… you can’t support abortion and be a conservative catholic…just wondering…not trying to digress???
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being liberal does not automatically mean that the person supports abortion. I have volunteered with many anti-abortion liberals. We feel that government has a role in creating an environment where women will not feel pressured by health care costs or other financial issues to choose abortion rather than to choose to have more children. We’re definately in the minority, but to say that all liberals are pro-abortion is not accurate.
 
elts1956 said:
Interesting poll. BUT I think I am in the middle as far as conservative/liberal aspects are considered. Probably more traditional than liberal, but have no problem with Vatican II which some Trads. seem to have. 🙂
Click to expand...
This just goes to show the great limitations in me using these labels! 🙂 I probably should have clarified that by “traditional”, I do not mean those ultra-traditionalists who deny Vatican II or think they are more Catholic than the pope. I simply mean, those who have no problems with and agree with all the doctrines of the Church (as expressed in the Catechism, for instance).
 
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