DTate98 (Aftermath)

[Martinius]

I get your point. Unless the groups views are explicitly unbiblical and anti-God, I shouldn't ever judge the individual because of their political views? Not being sarcastic or anything just trying to figure out the appropriate situations.

Actually, I don't think it is our place to ever judge anyone. Someone named Jesus told us that. I try to follow his lead on that and most other things. And I didn't see sarcasm in your comment. I think what I read there is that one shouldn't judge each individual because of the group we attach them to. That is correct.

I think a problem you are having is in mixing various definitions of liberal and conservative, and in different contexts, such as political, religious and moral. The threads I mentioned earlier go into the problem of sorting those out, and I think it would be worthwhile reading for you.

You are growing up in a time, and perhaps place, where a lot of polarization is occurring. In most communities, you will find people all over the political and religious spectrums. In politics and ethics, we tend to categorize people too tightly and place all people labeled liberal in one box, and those considered conservative in another box. Not that long ago, there were liberal and conservative Democrats, and liberal (or at least moderate) and conservative Republicans. As an example, some of the Republican candidates in recent election cycles have been labeled as not conservative enough to be elected, where a few decades back they would have been way right of the middle, and too conservative to get elected.

Religion is somewhat similar, except that members of a particular denomination are expected to abide by that group's rules and expectations. In most churches, you will find people all over the political spectrum. I am most familiar with the Catholic Church, where there can be a wide range of views on how certain rules, expectations and commandments are to be applied. So there can be liberal, moderate and conservative Catholics, all in the same pews, worshiping the same way, reciting the same creed, reading and studying the same biblical passages, saying the same prayers. But with a different view as to what takes priority, how certain teachings should be applied, and what it exactly means to be a Christian. And I know this is true about other faiths as well, such as Lutheran, Episcopal and Methodist. One of the reasons we have so many denominations on the Protestant side is precisely because of that diversity of views.

I advise you to lose the idea that everything can be narrowly defined and categorized, and that all so-called liberals, because they are called or see themselves as liberals, are exactly the same. It can't be done. And the same applies to members of a church or faith group (with the exception of some religious sects). Overall, Christians are more alike than you may realize. Most of us recite and believe in the same creed that has been around for about 1800 years. The fundamentals and core beliefs are very much the same for all of us. Try to focus on that, rather than the differences between us.