Demonizing Liberals

By John T Harding

   To be a liberal is to use the ability to think for yourself, to consider evidence and to decide for yourself the truth of any given idea or concept. To accept as true an idea or concept solely on the authority of another is faith, not reason. And that's OK. There are some concepts that are impossible to prove by reason, and can only be accepted on faith.
   The Founders of American democracy were men of the Age of Enlightenment, heavily influenced by such thinkers as David Hume, Locke, Thomas Reid and Adam Smith.
   (It's no coincidence that Smith's best known work, "The Wealth of Nations," was published in 1776. But Smith wrote on many other topics besides economics, including ethics, religion, politics, law, history, language and science.)
   In an enlightened society, freedom is the ability to publish one's thoughts and "to lay them open to public criticism by others and to respond publicly to their criticism" (Alexander Broadie, ed. "The Scottish Enlightenment, An Anthology, Edinburgh, 1997) . This is what the Founders of American democracy meant by Freedom of Speech and of the Press.
   Religion is based on Faith, the willingness to accept without question the truth of something on the word of another; things that cannot be proven, or things that pass all understanding.
   Science is based on Reason, the willingness to accept as true only things for which there is evidence, which can be questioned and tested.
   Liberals see no conflict between the two.
   During the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment, educated people questioned everything, probed for evidence, and decided for themselves whether to accept something as true. They were liberals in the sense that they were liberated from the obligation to accept as true whatever authority figures told them was true.
   Conservatives then, as now, insisted that everyone accept authoritarian truth without question. Disagreement then , as now, was not allowed.
   Among liberals, disagreement and discussion was and is not only allowed, but encouraged.
   When lawyers have the law on their side, they argue the law. When they have facts on their side, they argue facts. When they have neither, they pound the table.
   Today's American Tories pound the table and resort to name-calling, demonizing those who dare to disagree.
   Or, to quote that great Enlightenment philosopher Chico Marx: "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"