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

[happyseppy]

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…?

Valentin,
God Bless you for trying to stand strong in your faith in a difficult matter! Do what you believe is right. If you think that by waiting you can avoid doing wrong, do so. If it is crucial for your daughter to begin driving, is there anywhere else you can take her? Is it possible that at another time or place you will not be faced with the same situation?
It is hard to offer advice on your predicament, being unfamiliar with your culture, but I can offer a prayer and encouragement.

Peace,
Kelly

 

[Joe_5859]

Well, one thing is clear from the poll results so far: there’s a lot more “conservative”/“traditional”/“orthodox” Catholics on CAF than the alternative.

 

[Monicathree]

This is really interesting and I am glad to receive decent answers…
However, if you consider yourself liberal, do you vote liberal? And if you do, practically every liberal in office supports abortion. Even if you consider yourself pro life. If you vote for somebody who is pro abortion, you are supporting it. I won’t even start with gay marriage… etc. etc.
What do you think??

 

[una_ecclesia]

Rhetorical Question: Am I a conservative orthodox traditionalist?
Answer: I am a Catholic.

Same here
I remember reading that when Pope Benedict XVI was asked on his political stance on whether he was liberal (for his support of VII) or conservative (for his actions while he was Prefect for the Congregation of Doctrine of Faith) , he said the same thing.

I still voted conservative, mostly because though I don’t consider myself one I am still orthodox

 

[patrick457]

Same here
I remember reading that when Pope Benedict XVI was asked on his political stance on whether he was liberal (for his support of VII) or conservative (for his actions while he was Prefect for the Congregation of Doctrine of Faith) , he said the same thing.

I still voted conservative, mostly because though I don’t consider myself one I am still orthodox

That’s actually what I was referring to. Good catch.

“It was always my idea to be a Catholic, to follow the Catholic faith and not my own opinions. Theologians may wrangle all they want, but faith in the end is something ineffable, springing from the heart. And once it is felt there, then the mind will accept it too.”

 

[elts1956]

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).

Okay, I guess that means I am a liberal Traditional.

 

[MIZER]

Fitswimmer,

Don’t you find this difficult?

Church teaching conservative, politically liberal

Almost every politically liberal postition on social issues anyway, goes against church teaching.

Do you mean you are fiscal political liberal but a social political conservative?

I’m so confused how this works.

 

[MIZER]

Dale M posted:

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.

Yes, I agree, we have to ackowledge that this poll can only be for fun and in no way is truly reflective of reality in the church.

Dale, I’ve heard this said differently:

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?

The word on the street in my neck of the woods is that if one is not liberal when they are young, then they have no heart. And if one is not conservative when they are old, they have no brain.

 

[MIZER]

Fitswimmer posted:
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.

Really? I’ve never met a pro-life democrat. I have met a lot of people who think they are political liberals who, on further questioning can be shown to be, in fact more conservative in their views, both on social issues and on fiscal issues. Some people I’ve talked to about this admit to calling themselves “liberal” because it sounds more compassionate, or “democrat” because their parents were democrats and they never bothered to change party affiliation with the values they embrace as adults.

Fitswimmer, if the government truly has a role to play in lessoning the presure that women may feel to choose abortion, then government ought to ban abortion and start promoting adoption for unmarried fornicators and NFP for married couples.

Are you for or against NFP as the only sinless method of limiting ones family size?

Sorry Joe, I don’t mean to hyjack your thread, here, I just want to pin fitswimmer down. Not an easy task.

 

[RWMorris]

Can you spell “o-x-y-m-o-r-o-n”?

 

[RWMorris]

My apologies, I did not realize that.

 

[Swan]

Very interesting, especially the age grouping as the meaning of the terms has changed a great deal in the last 40 years. I’m a liberal (Vietnam era), but not a neo-liberal.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

I’m unclassifiable ​

 

[zab]

And being Republican in America today means something different than it did four years ago.

 

[Verisimilitude]

And being Republican in America today means something different than it did four years ago.

True, though the change is not restricted in the last 4 years, but more like the last 20.

 

[Nino]

…what is the point? Did Jesus take a poll of His apostles…hey guys,heres a now one for ya etc…some of the so called questions are hardly ‘progressive’ rather disruptive and evil and downright backward…re: paganism! The protestant revolution goes back to the 1500s so your PC views are hardly progressive…just the same ole sin wrapped up in shiny broardway tunics!I I would ask the poll taker if he were in the hospital needing a blood transfusion and the nurse came in with two bottles of plasma…one marked Heterosexual and the other Homosexual blood…which bottle would the poll taker take!!! If women want to be a priest of sorts then join a protestant church…if one etc etc…then go…I recall in the catholic (small C) high school I taught at for some 30 years the entire 'religion’dept was composed of new agers,Nam draft dodgers and smirking…who cares what Rome wants…type…eventually as the war ended so did they marriages and all of their radical left wing politics have been proven wrong and disaster for millions…I wonder how many angels can fit on the head of a pin anyway? …Nino

 

[Joe_5859]

…what is the point? Did Jesus take a poll of His apostles…hey guys,heres a now one for ya etc…some of the so called questions are hardly ‘progressive’ rather disruptive and evil and downright backward…re: paganism! The protestant revolution goes back to the 1500s so your PC views are hardly progressive…just the same ole sin wrapped up in shiny broardway tunics!I I would ask the poll taker if he were in the hospital needing a blood transfusion and the nurse came in with two bottles of plasma…one marked Heterosexual and the other Homosexual blood…which bottle would the poll taker take!!! If women want to be a priest of sorts then join a protestant church…if one etc etc…then go…I recall in the catholic (small C) high school I taught at for some 30 years the entire 'religion’dept was composed of new agers,Nam draft dodgers and smirking…who cares what Rome wants…type…eventually as the war ended so did they marriages and all of their radical left wing politics have been proven wrong and disaster for millions…I wonder how many angels can fit on the head of a pin anyway? …Nino

I thought Jesus did poll the Apostles. Isn’t that how he selected them? He went around Nazareth polling the men: What are your expectations of the coming Messiah? Will he be:

(a) A military leader who will free Israel from Roman rule
(b) A high priest who will spread Judaism across the globe
(c) God Himself!

The results were quite revealing! Of course, then Jesus chucked the results and picked who He wanted regardless of their answer.

Seriously, though, there’s as much point to this poll as there is any poll, which is to say, not much. I guess I should have issued a disclaimer: This poll is for entertainment purposes only!

 

[Al_Masetti]

…what is the point? Did Jesus take a poll of His apostles…hey guys,heres a now one for ya etc…some of the so called questions are hardly ‘progressive’ rather disruptive and evil and downright backward…re: paganism! The protestant revolution goes back to the 1500s so your PC views are hardly progressive…just the same ole sin wrapped up in shiny broardway tunics!I I would ask the poll taker if he were in the hospital needing a blood transfusion and the nurse came in with two bottles of plasma…one marked Heterosexual and the other Homosexual blood…which bottle would the poll taker take!!! If women want to be a priest of sorts then join a protestant church…if one etc etc…then go…I recall in the catholic (small C) high school I taught at for some 30 years the entire 'religion’dept was composed of new agers,Nam draft dodgers and smirking…who cares what Rome wants…type…eventually as the war ended so did they marriages and all of their radical left wing politics have been proven wrong and disaster for millions…I wonder how many angels can fit on the head of a pin anyway? …Nino

You’re right.

And what is truly amazing … all their solutions and approaches were total failures … millions of people died … tens of millions, if you include the abortion victims and malaria victims … and they just walk away and sort of say, “oh well”… “nevermind”.

Very frustrating.

But … as we know … there is no controlling legal authority.

:banghead:

---

Go here; read this book. It puts everything into perspective.

amazon.com/None-Dare-Call-Treason-Stormer/dp/0899667252

 

[steveandersen]

Poor choices on the poll

Liberal and conservative are not the same as heterodox and orthodox

I’m 45
Politically I’m Liberal on some things and Conservative on others
Pragmatist is how I would describe myself; politics is after all the art of the possible.

Theologically I’m a fairly middle of the road, mainstream Catholic. I’m not sure what that has to do with liberal or conservative.

 

[Joe_5859]

Poor choices on the poll

Liberal and conservative are not the same as heterodox and orthodox

I’m 45
Politically I’m Liberal on some things and Conservative on others
Pragmatist is how I would describe myself; politics is after all the art of the possible.

Theologically I’m a fairly middle of the road, mainstream Catholic. I’m not sure what that has to do with liberal or conservative.

Thank you for sharing your opinion!

Despite the terms, this poll has nothing to do with politics (as I already stated above).

I agree that the terms aren’t always helpful or descriptive. I would agree that the terms “liberal” and “conservative” are very politicized terms, and it can be very problematic to try to carry those terms over and use them within the Church. Even when we try to do so in a non-political way, the terms carry with them these political connotations. Ordinarily, I try to avoid them.

But the fact remains that they are the terms that many people use to describe themselves and their theology. That’s why I included several different adjectives so that people could feel free to pick whichever terms they like and ignore the ones they don’t.

I know that I feel like I’m middle of the road, theologically as well, as I know there are people who are more extremely in either direction of myself. But, I still classify myself in the conservative/traditional/orthodox camp because I actually believe what the Church teaches (especially regarding the “hot button” issues like contraception, homosexuality, women “priests”, etc.).