Colin Steer, Associate Editor - Opinion

In a discussion about American politics, a colleague recently referred to Barack Obama as the most liberal of the candidates who recently contested the presidential primaries. The rejoinder was made that Obama could moderate his positions and move to the political centre, as did Bill Clinton, when confronted by the Newt Gingrich-led conservative Republican advance.

That snippet of discussion betrays the extent to which political conservatives in the right-wing media and religious fundamentalists have succeeded in redefining and recodifying the word 'liberal' and made it into something dirty.

Bleeding-heart liberals, tax-and-spend liberals, and liberals who do not support 'family values' have been among the buzz words in the American public discourse over the past few decades. A quick Internet search revealed some of the core beliefs of political and social liberalism.

Tolerance and respect

In the American discourse, liberals, in general, believe individuals should be tolerant and respectful of differences. It is liberals, mostly, who have defended and continue to defend the freedom of the press to investigate and challenge the government and the protection of individual privacy from overbearing government monitoring.

Liberals believe government must respect and safeguard the liberty, equality and dignity of each individual. It is liberals who have championed and continue to champion the rights of racial, religious and ethnic minorities, political dissidents, persons accused of crime and the outcasts of society. It is liberals who have insisted on the right to legal counsel, a broad application of the right to due process of law and the principle of equal protection for all people.

In fact, long before evangelical Christians coalesced and found their voice in public discourse, liberals from the older mainline Protestant churches and Roman Catholics lent their voices and physical support to the struggles of black people through the civil rights movement.

Liberals contend that government has a fundamental responsibility to help those who are less fortunate. Liberals maintain that a national community is like a family and that government exists in part to "promote the general welfare".

Among the liberal beliefs most often highlighted by conservatives as being bad for society is the idea that government should never act on the basis of sectarian faith. Some liberals have opposed and continue to oppose school prayer and the teaching of creationism in public schools, support 'the rights' of gays and lesbians and the freedom of choice in regard to reproductive health for women.

Individual liberties

Liberals also believe the courts have a special responsibility to protect individual liberties, to preserve freedom of expression, individual privacy, freedom of religion and due process of law.

Liberals often argue that government must protect the safety and security of the people, without unnecessarily sacrificing constitutional values. It is liberals who have demanded and continue to demand legal protections to avoid the conviction of innocent people in the criminal justice system and 'reasonable' restraints on government surveillance of citizens.

In recent decades, conservatives have co-opted 'family values', making virulent opposition to abortion, whatever the circumstance and to same-sex relationships, reduction of state-sponsored welfare, and in many cases a strong support for selective Christian beliefs as prerequisites for public office. The result is a framing of the public discourse to suggest that to be a 'good' Christian is to be Republican - since that party embraces, or at the very least, enunciates, more of these values as against the liberal Democrats.

In response, however, to criticisms that they tend to be more mean-spirited and self-righteous, the Republicans have tried to repackage themselves as 'compassionate conservatives'. The jury is still out weighing the evidence of that compassion.

In the long run, the extremist positions on either side of the debate, deny the significant input that people from all walks of life, with varying core beliefs, contribute to the public good. We would do well in Jamaica to consider these factors when we adopt America's cultural wars in discussing individual rights and freedoms and the role of government.

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