When did the word "Liberal" become such a bad word ?

Question

To be a liberal you must believe in a free nation,freedom of religion,unbiased to all causes,such as politics,religion or progressive ideals.here are a few things liberals have changed to form a better nation: Changed the work day to eight hours a day,40 hours aweek,started the minimum wage.Started the G.I. bill of rights. Ended the depression.Ended segregation,started social security,medicare,a welfare program that was a good cause,but got out of hand.Started public schools,a free meal for poor school children,When you think of all the good liberals have done,the word sounds pretty good.

Answer 1

in it's most basic sense... liberals promote change...

and people fear change...

and it's often been a bad word through history...

people said the earth isn't the center of the universe wasn't a popular idea a few centuries ago...

and people that said the world isn't flat, weren't popular either...

basically, when someone can prove modern accepted logic wrong, they become unpopular and feared by the people...

it's fearing what you don't know and don't understand... even if it's a good thing...

it's a quite common fact of basic behavior....

Answer 2

The word Christian became a bad word politically because Christianity is not supposed to be political. It is not supposed to be involved in secular government. However, from the time the Messiah passed away, politicians, particularly, political philosophers from all over the known pagan world at that time began encroaching into Christianity diluting the religion with their views. The Romans, particularly Constantine, wanting to end the disputes between pagans and Christians declared Christianity as a state religion. And thereafter, the Roman Church, Catholic Church, masquerading as the true Christian Church Christianized may pagan customs. And those customs are tied with political tenets. Thus, Christianity, the dilluted Christianity became a political word. It became a bad political word because, Christianity began to be fragmented along the lines, not only on doctrinal lines, but on political issues. That is the reason why there are so many religions now masquerading as Christians. I wish I could say more, but space would not permit me.

Answer 3

The word "liberal" had an honorable meaning once upon a time. The nuance now is based on who and what the word is associated with.

The word is commonly pinned to democrats: Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton (amongst others), the ACLU and espouses their common traits:

Tearing down and redefining the Constitution of the United States.

Protecting the rights of criminals: child molesters, rapists & murderers.

Taking the rights to life of unborn children away.

Creating racial "equality" by practicing reverse discrimination.

Creating an atmosphere or climate where the Federal government cannot operate because of fears of "the Big Brother" syndrome, aka "Animal Farm".

Creating an underclass of citizens who are solely dependent on the largesse of the public, aka food stamps, ADC, welfare, etc, etc.

Taking away the rights of Christians to practice their faith or display their symbols or celebrate ritual Christian holidays, because it "discriminates" against another or other religious groups. When was the last time your child's school had a "Christmas Pageant"? Last time I checked they had changed the name to Winter Holiday or some such lame crap.

And many more instances of these people, these liberals, trying to reshape this country into some communist version of utopia, and circumventing the very laws that allow them to operate.

Today, to be called a liberal is not a compliment.

Answer 4

It started with Ronald Reagan, he said liberal was a four letter word in a speech that he give to the repuglican convention in 1980 and it just caught on. Now we are so divided as a nation that I sometimes wonder if we will survive without dividing the nation and having our own separate country's. Liberal America and conservative America.

Answer 5

This is a tactic used by both sides in the propaganda wars. If you make someone into an abstract image with a negative association, they can be forever dismissed with the abstract label. It works on us naive folks out there in media land and they show no signs of letting up. Liberal, Neocon, Evangelical Christian, Ragheads, Terrorists etc. Once you do this, it easy to kill someone because they are only an abstraction. It is dangerous business that we idly play with.

Answer 6

In the 80's when Reagan was in and the radical right conservatives keep putting down the the Democrats and calling us Liberals. Conservative think they are God's chosen people, They are hypocrites , And they say it like it is a dirty word. And they try convince you that if your liberal you are bad people.

Answer 7

When it stopped meaning what it was supposed to.

Nothing pisses me off more than when people like you refer to these irrelevant little victories for liberals - most of which were done decades ago - when you know that what conservatives are really so opposed to, is radicalism. The ACLU. Partial-birth abortion. The gay agenda. Quit being ignorant; face the ISSUES. I can only take partisan RHETORIC for so long.

By the way, something I've noticed is that a lot of liberals seem to have this attitude - the attitude that you have - that liberal is a "bad word," as if "right-winger" wasn't equally as loathed in the LIBERAL community. This blind hypocrisy is probably true in many factions of conservative America - "When did 'conservative' become a bad thing?" When people started disagreeing with conservatism, you dolt! And the SAME applies to you. Wake up, get the sand out of your eyes and quit being such a partisan hack.

Answer 8

It's part of the "Big Lie". The "Big Lie is an old propaganda technique used by fascists, such as Bush's bunch of scoundrels:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Lie

Answer 9

"Bad", like "Beauty" is in the eye of the beholder! I love the word liberal. I am one and I love being one and I love all Liberals!!!!

Answer 10

I GUESS THE GOP HAS TO SPIT A LOT?

I PREFER THE VALUES OF THAT LIBERAL COMPARED TO WHAT I HAVE LIVED THRU THESE LAST REGRETABLE 6 YEARS.

ONCE CANCER HAS SET IN- IT IS HARD INDEED TO ROOT OUT..CAN THIS 6 YEAR CANCER BE CURED..?
I DON;T THINK SO..
I TRULY THINK IT NEEDS TO BE CUT OUT.....
THAT MEANS BUSH CANNOT BE TRUSTED IN " STAY THE COURSE"

2 MORE YEARS THE USA WILL HAVE BEEN EATEN ALIVE..
TERMINAL...

HE CANNOT WORK WITH DEMOCRAT..
HE-YOU-ALL-KNOW IT...

BALL IS BOUNCING==HIGHER AND HIGHER.....
SOMEBODY CAN CATCH IT NOW OR WE WILL LOSE SIGHT OF IT.

FOREIGN GOV WON'T LISTEN TO HIS FOREIGN POLICY...RICE IS USELESS....POWELL SAW THE WRITING ON THE WALL-READ AND POOF--SKIPPED,,,

LAME DUCK--
WORLD- WON;T LISTEN AND IRAQ-N.KOREA.IRAN...
ITS NOT STRIP POKER PLAYED HERE...THIS IS FOR DEATH..AND BUSH HAS BEEN TRUMPED AT HOME--WORLD
IS NOT EVEN PLAYING WITH BUSH IN THE GAME.