John Locke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So says Richard Land to the ears to David Barton who seemingly got “excited” over the prospect of selling more t-shirts with false facts printed on them:
I tell you what, Richard gave a two word axiom that we ought to emblazon on everything we have: liberalism kills.
Liberalism kills, whether it’s in the family; whether it’s in a university; whether it’s in education; whether it’s in business; whether it’s in government, and especially in denominations, liberalism kills.
That’s a great axiom to remember is liberalism kills. (here)
We can only assume he means his understanding of liberalism – i.e., the challenges to standing institutions. Otherwise, I’m not sure how liberalism (economic) kills denominations. So, we will go with the simplistic idea of conservative (what we have) v. liberalism (questioning what we have).
This rhetoric falls on its face rather quickly. First, EVERY PROTESTANT CHURCH, SECT, DENOMINATION, CULT is a liberal schism from another one, going all the way back to Rome. The United States is a a liberal break off of Great Britain. Why? Because liberalism is needed to question the institutions from time to time. Thus, conservatism equals fascism… at least under Barton’s notion.
If you do not question your institutions, you will never go anywhere. Period. If the Reformers had never questioned Rome, then no Protestantism – and no Vatican II. If the colonists had never questioned Britain, no United States.
No Liberalism, no advancement. Know liberalism, know advancement.
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Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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Your definition of liberalism explains a lot for me.
ahhh, but I am trying to go with Barton’s!
Liberalism is different for different times and places.
That may be the problem. I guess Hitler and Stalin as the heads of socialist governments could be considered liberals of their time but certainly not now. There is a problem with a belief that makes everything relative. History is thus ignored as people adjust their core beliefs to fit a transient situation without regard to what history teaches. The near east is an excellent example.