The trouble

with being liberal, religiously or politically, is that almost by definition you have to be the kind of person who considers the other point of view. You Might Be Wrong. People who “know right from wrong” in the typical conservative way do not suffer from this disadvantage. They might be persuaded on details, but it’s impossible to be both a solid conservative and at the same time open to a ground-level shift in your thinking. Some points of view often labelled “liberal” are similarly entrenched (e.g. dyed-in-the-wool Marxists), but they belie the liberal label thereby; the operative principle of freedom is absent. Freedom is freedom to change. It’s hard to write good liberal rhetoric. If it’s presented truthfully, it’s going to lack the heroic edge, the certainty of God’s blessing in the face of adversity. It should also hope to reach the truth at any cost, and that’s surely worth the trade in poetic goosebumps?