L"iberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas and programmes such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free markets, civil rights, democratic societies, secular governments, gender equality and international cooperation." It came about during the "Age of Enlightenment". (Wikipedia; "Liberalism") Before we look at liberalism let's take a peek at the age from which it arose.
During the eighteenth century, the thinkers, writers, and politicians turned away from religion and toward philosophy. Most did not abandon religion - Christianity, entirely but modified it using human reason. Hence, liberalism became the religion of man, albeit is was tempered with Christianity. Because of it's liberal direction - critical thinking and evidence, both being part of mankind's reason, became superior to what thinkers considered to be religious superstition or church dogma. The abuses of the Catholic, Reformed, and Anglican Churches steered some toward liberalism in that religion was denominationally dogmatic.
Early on, the Catholic Church had taught that scientific discoveries were heretical in that the church perceived that those ideas were contrary to scripture. Some were and some were not. Thus a battle of thought arose between the church and great thinkers. "Science" was taken to be truth over church teachings. Effectually, liberal thought is the abandonment of faith for reason. A new religion was developed, but not called that until later on - humanism, and since it took science and reason over Christianity, it was secular humanism. (If you'll remember, reason was a byproduct of original sin as our forebears placed their will over God's).
To be honest, liberalism has some great ideas: (see the first paragraph). All those notions seem to be fair. However, some do oppose Christianity. Specifically, I have written on gender equality in my several commentaries on feminism. Whereas, gender equality is found in scripture, feminism is opposed therein,. Hence, the Church should be dogmatic against feminism but in favor of gender equality. Equality was the springboard on which feminism was launched but the latter contains within it division, confusion of gender roles, dissension, abortion, homosexuality, and even worse perversions of morality. Feminism, thus while having some good, is essentially evil in practice. The Church should and must reject it as sinful, and Genesis 3 points toward a part of original sin as gender roles became reversed.
Feminism is just one example of good ideas gone sour. "Freedom of religion" was an excellent example of liberal thinking. It was designed to keep state churches from overly influencing monarchial governments as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and even the Reformed Church had always done. The idea was to keep the clergy from being "the first estate", even over "the second estate" (nobility). "The third estate" (commoners) were lorded over by the first and third. Liberal thinking originally was meant to break he power of the first over the second estate. In the twentieth century, the outcome was to eliminate the influence of the first estate over even the commoners. That is liberalism gone wild!
There was some fairness to the separation of church and state. Remnants of estate churches even existed through colonial times. They were "state churches", and there were even government penalties for poor attendance, failure to tithe, etc. The notion was a good idea. However, liberals added unto that the wall of separation of church and state. That wall was to prevent either side from going out of their boundaries but liberals took it to the extreme: the government could leap that wall but the church could not. Modern liberalism endeavors to prevent God's doctrines and his faith from even being allowed in the political arena. Even worse, liberalism attempts to move all mention of God from the public square while it allows all types of pagan statures and inscriptions! Even our statue of the goddess Liberty is left to be honored as Jesus is even removed from the conversation.
Civil rights is another liberal idea gone sour. It is liberals again gone wild! Slavery was a bad institution. However, even Jesus cohabitated with it without even condemning it. Liberals even see Jesus in a bad light through his Church. Hence, even in the realm of fairness, it is Christians which became the most unfair! Slave-holders used scripture, and rightfully so, to support their ancient institution. (Scripture teaches to treat slaves fairly). Slavery is a consequence of sin. God was the author of poverty because of mankind's rejection of their creator. As such all types of maladies were in the wilderness to which Adam and Eve were released. In the wilderness was freedom for mankind - he could do whatever he willed. Because of complete libertarianism- the ultimate liberalism, mankind was totally freed from God's control unless man came to God. In that wilderness were the consequences of sin: hatred, murder, lying, theft, and injustice of all types. Among those were slavery!
The slave-holders used scripture, and unjustly so, to continue the evil institution. They had a right to what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled as their property, but the law doesn't make wrongs right! (Likewise, in modern times with the legalization of murder by abortion,) Christians are to be better than the law. Oftentimes, they were not! It was the influence of injustice that allowed this institution to continue. Then after slaves were granted freedom, the South was over-penalized and made a lesser entity. Hence, liberalism fostered regionalism, and the bitter taste still remains. Even racial hatred is partially a by-product of the mid-1800s PC Police - the radical liberals in charge of the U.S. military dictatorships in the South.
However, now modern liberalism has gone wild on equal rights as well. The concept of white privilege is used for all types of abuses of fairness. It demands unequal opportunity in opposition to its foundation. Government affirmative action means that it's okay to be unfair to some to be more than fair to others - liberalism gone wild! Because mainly the black community provoke this idea into the national community, class warfare as resulted with racial division. Indeed, liberals gone wild have made worse what they portend to protect! Never before have I seen such racial resentment on both sides, and liberalism is the root cause! Liberals gone wild!
I can go on and on but will mention only one other: freedom of speech at one time was a noble idea. Liberals are now the dogmatic ones! It has become, and they even admit it, "freedom of politically correct speech" - or their speech alone. Somehow liberalism gone wild has become dogmatism. Somehow, by political pressure, a new code of speech has developed. We call it "politically correct speech", and that speech is monitored by P.C. Police. The totalitarianism described by George Orwell has came about. It is Marxism gone wild through the façade of liberalism. Liberal thought is dogmatic, hateful, dividing, unjust, and un-Christian.
In order to enforce P.C. (political correctness) liberals use hatred. They spew hatred for those who disagree with them! For instance, it's now speech crime to even point out racial differences while their own ideas are based on racial division - pitting all races against our one! Likewise, liberals have divided the genders. The women are now approved to hate men! Men can neither criticize women's issues nor even compliment women or they will be labeled sexist! Because God is a sexist, and even made them different, the hatred goes toward the Church.
Liberalism has changed. Once based on fairness, and the love of mankind one toward the other, it now fosters hatred and injustice, one toward the other. With that class, gender, sexual, racial, religious, and party division comes discord in the nation. Why was Trump elected? The liberals caused him to be elected because of their division and hatred. People were tired of liberal fraud and victimization! It is no coincidence that Trump wanted to drain-the-swamp and at the same time "tear down that wall" separating Christians from government. He knew that what stood in the way of uncontrolled government power was Christianity. He wanted that wall down!
Ironically, liberalism was originally in favor of individual freedom - including the freedom of religion, speech, the press, etc. Now their freedom's extend only to their secular humanist religion, to their press, and to their speech. They have become what they were once against. They are the dogmatists and the religionists. Unfortunately, it is autocratic dogma and their humanist religion. It seems that Christianity is the only religion that they deem repressive even in the face of the most dogmatic and repressive religion ever to exist - Islam!
My point is this: once in line with Christian doctrine, now liberalism has taken on a mean and spiteful stance. Where once philio love was their ideal, now hatred is their method. Sure, they portend to love some, but those to whom they express love, are mere tools for controlling the government and society. Indeed, the liberals (socialists, Marxists, communists, progressives) are the seed for the end-of-time totalitarian government which will behead Christians for their faith. Those who join with them in evil will be safe at that time but damned for eternity. Now you may understand better why liberalism and Christianity are opposing religions!
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