Liberal Religion is a call to a higher moral standard
Often conservatives bemoan liberals for a lack of clear morality. Because liberals do not acknowledge a single authority on good and evil, conservatives reason, liberals fall into 'relativism' where no action can be clearly discerned as right or wrong.
On the contrary, I have found that religious and political liberals have a very clear idea of right and wrong. For example, it is generally liberals who stand for universal human rights.
In conservative religion, knowing the truth is easy, but following the truth is hard.
In liberal religion, knowing the truth is hard, and following the truth is still harder. Liberalism is the harder path, the path that takes more self-discipline and effort. In fact it is possible that many conservatives spurn liberalism because it is hard, because the moral challenge of a brotherhood with all humankind is too weighty a burden to bear.
In liberal religion, right and wrong must continually be discerned and the moral understanding must continually be refined as new truths are revealed by experience and debate. Some moral truths are well established, and close to certain. Other moral truths are more tenative and need to be evaluated. In the liberal religious sphere, reason, prayer, community discussion, and engaging in multiple points of view are all valid tools for exploring moral truth. Sometimes, this makes things more confusing and it becomes difficult to discern moral truth. But in the long run, we have faith that through earnest effort humankind can come closer to moral truth, and become better and more pure in intent.
The search for truth is undergirded with humility. Humans can never claim an absolute hold on the truth. Even though things we are most certain of, we should acknowledge are limited by our human understanding. Of course we must act based on our best understanding, but we must also act with humility. We should remain open to the possibility that we may be wrong, that we can be corrected. Only by remaining open to new truth and new revelation can we become better, and can we achieve a more complete moral understanding.
On the contrary, I have found that religious and political liberals have a very clear idea of right and wrong. For example, it is generally liberals who stand for universal human rights.
In conservative religion, knowing the truth is easy, but following the truth is hard.
In liberal religion, knowing the truth is hard, and following the truth is still harder. Liberalism is the harder path, the path that takes more self-discipline and effort. In fact it is possible that many conservatives spurn liberalism because it is hard, because the moral challenge of a brotherhood with all humankind is too weighty a burden to bear.
In liberal religion, right and wrong must continually be discerned and the moral understanding must continually be refined as new truths are revealed by experience and debate. Some moral truths are well established, and close to certain. Other moral truths are more tenative and need to be evaluated. In the liberal religious sphere, reason, prayer, community discussion, and engaging in multiple points of view are all valid tools for exploring moral truth. Sometimes, this makes things more confusing and it becomes difficult to discern moral truth. But in the long run, we have faith that through earnest effort humankind can come closer to moral truth, and become better and more pure in intent.
The search for truth is undergirded with humility. Humans can never claim an absolute hold on the truth. Even though things we are most certain of, we should acknowledge are limited by our human understanding. Of course we must act based on our best understanding, but we must also act with humility. We should remain open to the possibility that we may be wrong, that we can be corrected. Only by remaining open to new truth and new revelation can we become better, and can we achieve a more complete moral understanding.
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