Friday, October 26, 2007

What Kind of Liberal Are You?

Here's me:

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My Liberal Identity:

You are a Working Class Warrior, also known as a blue-collar Democrat. You believe that the little guy is getting screwed by conservative greed-mongers and corporate criminals, and you’re not going to take it anymore.

17 comments:

Jon Carroll said...

i am a liberal elite, but we al knew that

callmeishmael said...

Since some of the questions had no answer I would have preferred, I ended up as a "Socially Crusading 'Liberal.'" The interior quotation marks are, naturally, mine. Just for the sake of something, I wanted to answer the "what book would you take" question with a volume not there. _Moby-Dick_. End of discussion.

Blinders Off said...

Your Liberal Breed: Social Justice Crusader

Anonymous said...

Your Liberal Breed: Peace Patroller
You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

Dabney said...

You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.

callmeishmael said...

Dear Dabney,
By "non-Jesus thought," do you mean that you're against feeding the hungry and clothing the naked (Matthew 25)? Perhaps you oppose literally interrupting a mission of mercy to restore hope to an unnamed triple nobody of a person shunned by her enitre community (Mark 5: 25-34)? Maybe you are against the criticizing of political and social leaders who flaunt their virtue while ignoring the sacrificial agony of a civil servant (Luke 18:9-14)? Maybe, since Jesus of Nazareth reflected the Hebraic tradition of Exodus and social justice, you might disagree with the notion of "letting justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5)? Perhaps you have similar problems with the demand that we defend wives, widows and orphans otheriwse left to fend for themselves (Isaiah 1)?
Can left wing secularists ever begin to realize that, in American terms, the civil rights movement had its roots in the black CHURCHES and the Judeo-Christianity it proclaimed? Maybe we can all re-read "Letter from Birmingham Jail" or listen to Dr. King's "Drum Major for Justice" sermon he delivered in late 1967 when he said, referring to Isaiah's biblical witness, that he wasn't "going to study war any more." Maybe we can remember Father Robert Drinan on the House Judiciary Committee and his role in helping to save the Constitution during Watergate? I would hope that we who call ourselves "liberals" might use some of our rationality to realize that Christianity is not monolithic, not rooted in ridiculous forms of idolatrous fundamentalism (clearly violating Exodus 20:1) and, at its best, has stood at the forefront of every, single movement for inclusion, fairness and equality in the history of Western civilization.

midtowner said...

What a jerry-rigged asshat exercise. Shit. Thoughtless demo-Krat. We can and should do better. I am tired of such contrived and controlling polls. I ain't Repug and I ain't a damn donkey waiting for the pull of the harness. Insulting.pka

Steve Steffens said...

Well, LWCB, since that's just how her answers came out, I'm certain she's not calling for the end of Christendom.

if, in fact, your brand of Christianity hadn't been completely overrun and marginalized to the point of non-existence by the right-wingers, there might be fewer secularists.

Whose fault is that?

callmeishmael said...

Maybe, LWC, if secularists allowed themselves to realize that television is no more the final purveyor of truth in matters of faith than it is in politics or business, these conversations might not be necessary. But as it apparently is, secularists won't allow thmselves to realize that faith expressions are always rooted in the pecularities of a given culture, time and place and--not coincidentally--through the lenses of the person doing the interpreting within her or his unique experiences. If you will, a "Buddhism of Culture." Such notions of complexity, however, would suggest a willingness to explore perceptions beyond one's own, a curiosity about the genuinely human experiences of someone other than oneself that ambiguously express--to paraphrase Paul Tillich's terms--"that which is beyond that which is" (or, for that matter, is not) and, most importantly, a tolerance for points of view that one does not share or even understand. Grand, sweeping generalizations about "non-Jesus based thought" express much more about the sender than whatever we may--and mostly do not--know about the Mediterranean peasant to whom Dabney refers.
Legitimate explorations about both Judeo-Christian testaments and the historical peasant in question have been circulating through responsible theological and biblically-critical circles since 1835. Not 1935 or 1989 or 2001, but 1835. If secularists have not become aware of these explorations, perhaps they can venture to Barnes and Noble, buy and then read anything by John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan or Paula Fredrickson. To assign "fault" in these matters only creates more of the vitupertive atmosphere that the idolatrous biblicists and "Jesus-iologists" can use to their advantage. Instead, what's problematic about informing oneself about these issues and offering perspective rather than condemnation or, worse, dismissal?

David Holt said...

Working class warrior, baby!

GoldnI said...

I have never been a fan of the term "Judeo-Christian." Maybe because too often, it's been used by the Christian right to give themselves extra legitimacy and to pretend that they have anything in common with us.

callmeishmael said...

Fair enough. I use it to let my fellow Christians know that if it weren't for Judaism, we Christians wouldn't be around. I mean that in an absolutely positive way, but within the confines of LWC's blog, I'll honor your feelings. Thanks for letting me know--

Freedonian said...

You are a New Left Hipster, also known as a MoveOn.org liberal, a Netroots activist, or a Daily Show fanatic. You believe that if we really want to defend American values, conservatives must be exposed, mocked, and assailed for every fanatical, puritanical, warmongering, Constitution-shredding ideal for which they stand.

s.mac said...

Your Liberal Breed: Peace Patroller over here

Dabney said...

I didn't write my description, I quoted what the machine spit out. I didn't mean to offend anyone. I believe that if Christians spent more time doing what the Bible tells us to do - feed the hungry, help the sick, etc., and not building mega churches and spewing hateful speeches, we would all be better off.

callmeishmael said...

Dear Dabney,
If I offended you by the intensity of my remarks, I ask your forgiveness as well. More than just a by-rote "Christian" response, I hope you will see my expression as one based upon common decency and good manners. In my language and mine alone, God bless--

Dabney said...

Leftwingcarollinablue -

I don't get offended that easily. No ptoblems here.