Does having different opinions than liberals make you evil?

So I am a fairly moderate person, and although I lean to the left, the thing that bothers me the most about liberals is how closed-minded and downright hostile they are towards those who don't share their opinions. I have experience with this, as I recently graduated from a very liberal college.

I've recently been having a lot of social anxiety about what other people think of me, and realized that a lot of it stems from being afraid to be myself because I don't agree with liberals on everything.

My counselor actually had to tell me it was okay to think differently than liberals before I realized it was true. Since then I have had a great weight lifted off my shoulders!

Does anyone else feel like liberal society forces you to think a certain way about many issues to the point where if you disagree you are outcast and considered an evil person? We can often see this attitude in issues such as global warming. Although a recent NASA study has recently concluded that UN climate change estimates are innacurate, people have even lost their jobs due to disagreeing with the liberal stance on the issue. What happened to the open-minded liberals of the past?

If you want to free your mind, remember to stay informed and that you can always have your own opinions.

reply to post by darkbake

Does anyone else feel like liberal society forces you to think a certain way about many issues to the point where if you disagree you are outcast and considered an evil person?

Yes, some make you feel guilty for having an opinion, I have been thinking about this for a while now.
People are entitled to have their own opinion.

And their own moral standards.

What happened to the open-minded liberals of the past?

Well, obviously they are only opened minded when it is their issues, really some of the most intolerant people I have met on line.

Nope. It may make me disagreeable, but hardly evil.

If a "liberal" considers me evil 'cause I dare to disagree with them, that's their issue, not mine.

reply to post by darkbake


Graduated from college, you say? Then you should have been taught the skill of critical and analytical thinking, which helps enormously when formulating an opinion, putting forward the argument and deconstructing others.

If you're going to argue something with a liberal, make sure you've researched the subject properly, and always cite the most credible sources available. If a liberal cites whatever statistic, be ready to counter with something even more reliable. There's a right and wrong way of going about this. If you're exceptionally lucky you'll find that one little fact that totally destroys the opposition's argument, but be aware the same could happen to yours.

Essentially you need to cover your ass and make it fireproof when putting any argument out there. I learned these lessons the hard way.

reply to post by XeroOne


Oh yeah, this skill was hard-wired into me all right. It's definitely useful, especially when going against majority opinion on an issue.

Is this a class assignment?

Originally posted by seagull
Nope. It may make me disagreeable, but hardly evil.

If a "liberal" considers me evil 'cause I dare to disagree with them, that's their issue, not mine.

Exactly right this is America. You have the right to have a different opinion that is what made this country strong. No one in this country has a right to tell anyone you have to think like I do.

At the very basic most fundamental level, society defines "good" as anything that allows or encourages people in their particular group to peacefully, successfully procreate. "Evil" is anything determined to stop that or make it more difficult.

Of course, people have different opinions about what effect certain behaviors have on that, and what they consider to be their group. Conservatives usually consider their personal group to be less inclusive of people from other races or socioeconomic backgrounds, and see homosexuality and abortion as being in definite opposition to successful procreation, at least philosophically. Liberals see their group as encompassing every human on the planet, and see homosexuality and abortion as having little or no effect on humankind's ability to reproduce.

But it all really depends on which version of platitudes you choose to believe in. Do all human beings have the same right to "freedom" and "liberty," particularly when it comes to reproduction? We're generally taught that each individual and their viewpoints have value. But on a practical level, is that a truth carved in stone? Is the whole notion of reproductive freedom a ground truth, and beyond debate?

The problem as I see it, is not so much the Liberal mindset, or the Conservative mindset.
They are both ideologies, and they have intertwining attributes.
The problem is believing you are either one or the other.
I guarantee, you are not.
Nor is anyone.
As a human being, you have a far more gray mentality by nature than you do black or white, left or right, etc., etc....
People need to start listening to what their nature is telling them,
rather than what the group they are so desperately trying to belong to is telling them about their nature.
The so called Powers that Be don't have any power, but that which you give them by buying into their song and dance.
They all know there is no difference between them.
You've seen these people in action, and they have proven time and again that they aren't very bright, yet they all understand this simple truth.
The question is, what is your excuse, you Liberal/Socialist/Democrat/Communist/hippy?
How about you, you Conservative/Fascist/Republican/Nazi/Tea bagger?
Let's not forget you Libertarian/Anarchist/Blac Bloc/Scum?
If any of those terms offend you, you are your own problem.
You let yourself be catergorised by others with an agenda, rather than what you know in your heart and mind.
That, my friend, is evil.

reply to post by ViktorHaze


More than a little truth to that.

Well said.

I admit to being a bit right of center on many of my political stances. But on others, I'm left of center... As a result, I've been castigated by both "liberals" and "conservatives"... Sometimes in the same thread... Either that or I'm told I'm not supposed to have an opinion...which is annoying.

Much of our political discourse is made up theatre. Most of the politicians have no set ideology. They'll go where they're told to go. Whether by their buyers, or by the voters. Their opinions, if one can call them that, are nothing more than windsocks. It's well past time we, as a group, came to realize that.

This attitude isn't only in the camp of liberals. Try arguing with the average Texan that church is not the only place to worship God (or if you even have to worship a God), that gays are human, and that the Earth is not 6,000 - 10,000 years old.

You just have to argue your case cogently and with logic and facts. Sometimes logic and facts confound people, however, in which case you've lost the battle and might as well fall back and dig in, because all you have left to argue with is emotion, which never wins a debate.

That's why everyone should be libertarian in ideology, because otherwise you're all evil.

/TOA

I like the way some people automatically label others a 'troll' just for having a dissenting opinion.

These days:
Troll = Someone who disagrees

Or perhaps they scream 'troll' because they lost the argument, and personal attacks are all they have left.

Originally posted by XeroOne
I like the way some people automatically label others a 'troll' just for having a dissenting opinion.

These days:
Troll = Someone who disagrees

Nope, my definition of a troll is someone that is deliberately provocative and looking for stars, flags and attaboys.
I welcome dissenting opinions! Even yours

www.urbandictionary.com...

And I'm not arguing; I'm just expressing an opinion. Or is that not allowed on ATS anymore?

reply to post by darkbake


To sum it up, both camps find evil in the other but here are the general differences:

- Liberal Belief = Objective good for humanity based on science and trying to improve upon what we've done in history
- Conservative Belief = Subjective good for humanity based on religion and trying to repeat what we've done in history

When it comes down to it, this is the basic American sentiments in social conservatism and social liberalism. Now, this isn't exactly what the politicians believe but I can assure you that it's what they use to sway the votes.

Originally posted by olaru12

Originally posted by XeroOne
I like the way some people automatically label others a 'troll' just for having a dissenting opinion.

These days:
Troll = Someone who disagrees

Nope, my definition of a troll is someone that is deliberately provocative and looking for stars, flags and attaboys.

www.urbandictionary.com...

And I'm not arguing; I'm just expressing an opinion. Or is that not allowed on ATS anymore?

edit on 20-7-2012 by olaru12 because: (no reason given)

No worries. The 'troll' thing's just become the default response these days for some people, even on The Guardian's Comment is Free pages. It's like an Internet meme now.

I love how conservatives like to make themselves the victims. Lol

Yes, liberals can be vile hateful creatures if you disagree with them.

They are all smiles and for the people, but once you disagree then those smiles turn upside down then watch out. Notice how they feel the government knows better, that someone else should do the thinking for you, to decide what is in your best interest?

(and just take a look at countries that turned socialist - Russia / China, what happened in those countries when you decided you didn't agree with the state - getting a clearer picture now?)

It might be that one or both sides of the debate are ignorant of the truth which are the facts to some degree between 0% and 100%.

The egos of the debators is the major factor determining whether the truth is more important than winning and have a chest beating social display, or not.

Only if the desired outcome of a debate is truth by BOTH SIDES does the discussion have any value whatsoever. If just one side is about ego victory display they will lie, cheat, steal, and kill if needed to win. If both sides are focused on ego victory display nothing but evil will result.

Originally posted by seagull
reply to post by ViktorHaze

 

More than a little truth to that.

Well said.

I admit to being a bit right of center on many of my political stances. But on others, I'm left of center... As a result, I've been castigated by both "liberals" and "conservatives"... Sometimes in the same thread... Either that or I'm told I'm not supposed to have an opinion...which is annoying.

Much of our political discourse is made up theatre. Most of the politicians have no set ideology. They'll go where they're told to go. Whether by their buyers, or by the voters. Their opinions, if one can call them that, are nothing more than windsocks. It's well past time we, as a group, came to realize that.

It's ok, I like ya anyway

Something I tell kids a lot when they're growing into their "political selves" is "It takes both wings to fly" referring to the right wing and the left wing and try to show them that the differences can sometimes lead to progress. Nobody wins when extremes are taken, but when two opposing sides work together and make compromises, many things can be accomplished.