Respectful question from an Atheist Liberal. Are there any LIberals here who love Jesus Christ & are Chrsitian

Question

Just curious, I have a theory that there are millions in this country who are Christian, who love Jesus Christ as their lord and savior, and consider themself to be liberal.

Apparently theres a stereotype that all liberals are Jesus haters who hang out at gay orgies.

I'm wondering by the answers to this question if there are Christians who are liberal.

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As an atheist, I don't hate Christians, I just don't share their world view
People are going to belief whatever they want regardless my belief.

Thanks.
-Spartacus

Answer 1

Jesus Himself was a Liberal. All of His teachings and guidelines were extremely liberal for His day and, in fact, still are. Sadly, too many of today's modern Christians pick and chose from His guidelines, ignoring or distorting teachings like 'turning the other cheek' or 'not casting the first stone' or letting a thief 'take your coat' to fit and jusitfy their own personal needs and desires for material things.

However, there are some Christian denominations, like Presbyterians, Unitarians and Episcopalians, who tend to be liberal.

Then there are denominations, like the Amish, who follow His guideline to the word and won't kill, won't strike another person, won't prevent someone from stealing from them, etc.

So my guess would be that approximately 40% of Christians in America are what you could call more liberal than pick and chose conservatives.

Answer 2

Some liberals are atheists, some are Jews, some are Christians, some are Buddhists, etc. The common denominator for liberalism appears to be taking a critical, skeptical approach to all things. They don't take things at face value, and don't reflexively or automatically believe everything they read or hear, including religious texts. It's that whole thinking for yourself thing. This in fact what separates Reform Judaism from Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Jews believe the Torah is the written word of God, pure and simple, the way some fundamentalist Christians believe the King James Bible (even though it's in English, and was therefore obviously translated at least once) is the literal word of God. Reform Jews belive the Torah is divinely inspired, but that the Torah contains allusions and metaphors that need to be thought about, interpreted, made relevant to the individual. A bit of a tangent, but I'm trying to illustrate a point. Not all liberals are atheists, but their approach to religion may be a bit different from conservatives, who tend to be a bit more dogmatic, inflexible and literal. Are all atheists liberals? I'm sure not 100%, but I can't think of any atheists I know who are politically conservative, oh, with the exception of some Air Force Academy graduates. What goes on at that place? Who called Jesus a Liberal? Oh my goodness, no, Jesus hated liberals - that rabbi was a Radical, more of a Che Guevara or an Abbie Hoffman than a Bill Clinton. Liberals are too establishment - the "let's change it from the inside" approach. Jesus was more of a "burn, baby, burn" kinda guy. He didn't want to modify the existing social order - he wanted to tear it down and start over with something better, starting with all Romans outta Palestine.

Answer 3

Liberal is a pretty big term. If by this you mean "open minded," then I would consider any follower of Jesus Christ to have an open mind and open heart. Remember according to the Bible, Jesus was no respector of persons, meaning most folks were treated equally. He also bent the rules from time to time in order to make a greater impact and point on his listeners. Christians are usually socialistic and have an obligation to serve the poor. We are told to obey our leaders, pay taxes and put others before us, so eliteist, independents and right-wing we are not. Christianity should not be so much a political movement as a moral and religious conviction or ideology.

Answer 4

Spartacus, what I see as the "key" to your good question, is the word "stereotype."
Pejoratives are used from "both sides of the aisle"--political, religious & non-religious, by the uniformed. This is, of course, divisive.
Outside the political sphere, liberal can still refer in a wholly approving way to someone who favours tolerance, welcomes constructive change, freedom & more. It is "humane." There seems no logical reason why Christians (in general) would oppose such a philosophy.
Just to add--while Atheists are often considered to have no moral compass, (not adhering to "doctrines"), not all religious people have this view.
I hope you will receive knowledgeable & thoughtful answers to your question.
Stereotypes are based on ignorance, & are destuctive.

Answer 5

I hate when I hear people say that "if Jesus were alive today, he'd be a ______". The truth is even during his time, he was playing by a different set of societal rules than the rest of us are today.

I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I tend to support liberal issues.

But there are lots of definitions to both the term "Christian" and "Liberal", so it's really hard to answer more specifically.

Thank you.

Sam
[e-mail]

Answer 6

I really like Truth Seeker's response. As a Christian and registered Republican, I can certainly see the appeal of "siding" with Democrats (and/or liberals) given the way the Republican party has changed in recent years. I think it's important to note that there are often two different "groups" of Republicans and Democrats- those who vote that way based on their idea of how the government should spend money and govern its people (federal vs. state), and those who vote that way based on their moral beliefs. It's possible to have the moral beliefs commonly attributed to one party and to have the political beliefs commonly attributed to the other.

Answer 7

I've scanned the answers, many of them respectful & forthright.
I would like to comment, however. In the second paragraph, truth seeker has lapsed into stereotyping with:
"I think many Liberals have become Liberals because they are anti-Republican more than anything."
I am a Liberal because I believe in the fundamental principles.
I respect the logic, & total lack of bias in Gypsy's answer.

Answer 8

Most definitely Christian and liberal.

Those that suggest that the issues of homosexuality and abortion are key issues for Christians would do well to show us in which Gospel Jesus mentioned them.

In fact, one would think from how the "fundamentalist Christians" often rant and rave about homosexuality and abortion, that those are the only two topics Jesus ever spoke of.

Answer 9

The stereo type of Liberals on yahoo is obscene. There are many different types of Liberals. I am a Liberal. I am a Christian. I do believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior.

I also own guns.
I am also pro-life

I think many Liberals have become Liberals because they are anti-Republican more than anything.

Answer 10

I'm here! I am a registered Democrat, and a dyed-in-the-wool
JFK/RFK Liberal! AND I vote! }:>
I'm unaware of this "stereotype" you're talking about...
Jesus was definitely a "liberal"!

If you mean those morons in Republican clothing that babble on about "God", while sending our troops off to fight what has
to be THE "stupidist" war in our history; (no mean trick, when you think about war...) and think they know better than the men who wrote our Constitution, and know how "everyone" should live.. (but DON'T, of course, themselves)...
Well... they simply don't know what they're talking about.

I don't hate anyone. Well, not "real" people, anyway... smile...

Atheists are fine with me. As long as you don't try to convert me, I won't try to convert you! Liberals believe in respecting everyone's rights! }:>