The Liberal Bogeyman

“We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us.” – Pogo (Walt Kelly)

As an Evangelical Christian, I was warned about liberal theology. It was of the devil. I am told that the enemy is the Liberal. I have met the enemy and it is me.

When you actually look up the word liberal, you find out it is not a bad word at all. The Oxford English Dictionary defines liberal as “relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.” What’s so bad about that? Maybe because it interferes with big money, political power, and corporate greed.

John F. Kennedy once said, “But if by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.'”

But there is a danger with unguarded liberalism. You can give up too much, lose one’s foundation. I content that Christians should be both liberal and orthodox. Liberal in the nonessentials and orthodox in the essentials. The either-or mentality is dividing the church and ostracizing many young people.

If I must carry a label, progressive Christian will do. I accept the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds, and in that sense I am orthodox. But I also believe in science, reason, and mysticism, and so I am also liberal. More importantly, I have dedicated my life to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have a personal and experiential relationship with him.