Life, Liberal-ty and the Pursuit of Happiness

  Liberal: "not opposed to new ideas or ways of behaving that are not traditional or widely accepted"
               :"marked by generosity; open handed, given to generosity"
               : "given or provided in a generous and openhanded way, e.g. a liberal giver"
               : " not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms"  (various definitions on the       internet)

I don't consider myself to be a  liberal. I just consider myself to be an open-minded and well-educated person who is always searching for a clearer understanding of a multitude of issues both political and religious. I hold to my beliefs and convictions until I find beliefs and convictions that work better for me.

Conservatives call me a liberal.  And when they do it's not a compliment.  From the right my perspective is none of the things as defined above.  So from the conservative's point of view I'm sure I'm a liberal.  I voted for Barack Obama twice.  If he ran again against any GOP candidate I've seen in the current field  I would gladly vote for him again. I don't vote for Democrats because they're liberal. I vote for them because I like them for who they are and for the principles they stand for.

But to be fair I spent years as a member of the Republican Party. As such I voted for George W. Bush twice.  From the last Bush administration until the 2008 election I took a college class on the U.S. Government.  In that class we took an online inventory to see where we stood on the political pendulum.  I didn't just lean to the left, I pegged off the chart to the left.  I decided that night that I must not be a Republican anymore. Either the Republican party had moved on without me or I had moved on without it. It was the latter case I'm quite sure.

This morning I found myself in conversation with a man who graduated from my seminary, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.  He didn't graduate much later than me, but late enough that the theological landscape had shifted dramatically to the right. The takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention and its institutions by more right-leaning Christians was in full swing.  "Southern seminary" had already fallen victim to the prey. It was dying from the roots up.

My acquaintance said, "The seminary was still very liberal when you were there, wasn't it?" Before I could respond he added, "It was fairly liberal when I was there but I didn't let it affect me."  At that point I knew that I was not talking with a kindred spirit. Since he had let me know where he stood, I let him know about me.  I replied, "Yes, it was very liberal, but I'm very liberal so that was fine with me."  We both remained polite and respectful but the conversation didn't last much longer after that.

I had a two hour trip home from Atlanta to process what he had said and to consider what I might want to write about it.  Here's the thing, "Are you telling me that you moved your family to Louisville, Kentucky from Alabama, you paid your tuition, you bought your books, you spent countless hours in class with some of the most brilliant theologians on the face of the earth--and you didn't let it affect you? And that's a good thing?"   I find that to be fascinating and a little disturbing.

The two years I spent at "Southern" were two of the most mind-opening, knowledge expanding years of my life. I was there for their music school, but I had enrolled in a school of theology as well. During my very first chapel service in August of 1977 Dr. Duke McCall held a Bible to his chest and said, "For your whole life you've held the Bible to your heart and read it devotionally. As he pushed it away and held it at arm's length  he said, "You are now going to be asked to read it critically.  Be very careful.  There is no place easier to lose your mortal soul than at a theological seminary". As he pulled the Bible back to his chest he said, "After your time here you are going to be invited to bring the Bible back to your heart with a new understanding of its truth and a new ability to share its beauty and power. The Word of God will be fresh and new as your ministry will be  fresh and new." Granted a few students never found their way back, but I don't blame the seminary for that. There were warning signs all over the place.

One thing you've got to give my friend in Atlanta, he certainly  didn't risk losing his soul.  But he paid a heavy price for that precaution.  He left "Southern" with no more understanding of the Bible or of Christian ministry than he entered it with  (by his own confession).  What was the point?  I guess he just wanted the degree on his resume from a prestigious Christian seminary. And there's certainly something to be said for that. But isn't the purpose of "higher education" to achieve higher education?  Or is it just my radical, liberal left-winged misunderstanding of what seminary is supposed to be?

I don't like meaningless labels such as liberal and conservative,  but if liberal is a  label I'm stuck with then I'll proudly wear it.  "Not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy or traditional forms" sums me up pretty well. Is my friend in Atlanta equally as proud of the alternative?  He seemed to be happy enough to me.