If By Liberal...

Its time now for another installment of Federalist X's stump speeches. This is the If By Liberal speech, which can be used and quoted freely w/out credit... imitation is after all the sincerest form of flattery. I write this because, from blog to blog, person to person, I find that there is no greater occasion for misunderstanding than that which occurs on the subject of Liberality. Do enjoy. And feel free to add to or take from.

If by liberal, you mean, that freedom from oppression; that goal of our forefathers; that eternal form which even the slave Epictetus would not let his master have over him; that deep desire which the Israelites prayed for while in captivity; that mover of history; that primordial groan from the cosmos to the heart of every man, woman and child which calls them to freedom and led Lincoln and this singular people to overcome our greatest challenge; that great feeling which graced the fingertips of the fallen at Normandy; that industrious drive which prescribed the form of our Constitution; that promised land which Dr. King viewed from on high; that state of being which Gahndi delivered to billions; that achievement of modernity that God has planned for all mankind; that drive for equality before the law which led to a fair wage, the freedom of every women to determine her own fate, and the freedom of every human, regardless of color, to redeem the promise of this hallowed ground; which the patriots fought and bled and died over generations to gain...

Or

If by liberal, you mean, that tradition of those seven arts, passed down in the form of the trivium and quadrivium; sacredly held by all practitioners of truth; given to us by God for the sake of our posterity; mixing together with human endeavor to unlock the secrets which cause death and disease, sinfulness and crime, waste and poverty; colluding with our desires to create strength and wisdom, love and passion, faith and charity; allowing us to contemplate the heavens and all the expansive scope which lies beneath them; unfolding the dovetailed treasuries from Aristotle to Maxwell, Euclid to Newton, Ptolemy to Kepler; which forever guides the course of Reason, God's greatest gift, on its sovereign voyage...

Or

If by liberal, you mean, that tenant of faith which Martin Luther boldly tacked on Wittenberg's door, marking the beginning of the meek and great Protestant Christian religion; that sacred belief which holds as the object of its true desire nothing but eternal communion with the Lord of Heaven; that fine tuning between the heart and soul which allows the freedom of any man, woman, or child to express faith as his or her God asks; that uplifting pillar of theology which precludes the jealous dispensation of heavenly favor and holds between the soul and God no man nor obstacle; that pure ideal of interconnected love throughout humanity which serves only the message of His holy word in all tongues in all ways; that singular command from which complete obedience promises everlasting life and freedom eternal; that spirit of tolerance in all religious pursuits which is the cornerstone of this great land; which unites every American with every human under the purview of a higher power...

Then I say to you, I am a Liberal dear friend, proud and true.

But,

If by liberal, you mean, that desperate feeling of ennui which plagues the minds and bodies of privileged youth; that strident opposition to the status quo of the generation which preceded it; that selfish indulgence which only idleness and wealth can generate; that blind acceptance of all things novel and abandonment of the familiar for its own sake; that quick-witted criticism which lacks respect for wisdom; that light hearted abandonment of all morals in pursuit of unbridled relativity; that failure to distinguish between innocence and victimhood; that betraying self-confidence in all things popular; which slowly abandons the traditions, the sanctity, and the resoluteness which we in this nation call the Law...

Then I say to you, dear friend, I am most assuredly against it.