"Secular-Progressive", the new "Liberal"

The right has a new tool to brand enemies with, and they are out to paint the town with it. Since the Goldwater days, and then the Reagan Revolution, the hip insult was "liberal". Tax and spend liberal, liberal values, liberal this, liberal that. Anything that stood against big business, theocracy, hate and violence was liberal. The word was twisted to be an insult, and thus applied liberally (pun intended). Democrats ran from it, all the way to the middle, anything to avoid this horrible label. Conservatives rode it all the way, used it up, and were left looking for a new term to slander with.


Enter Secular Progressive. It throws out the nuance of liberal, where as before the godless and new crazy ideas parts were implied, now they are RIGHT THERE! They are playing percentages here, with 90% of Americans in one poll claiming belief in God. Yes, those who embody the actions God seeks are Godless. This sort of lowly pandering appeals to those who already are in lock step (or should we say goose step) with the likes of the Falafel King, but nobody else.

Those of us on the left who want to see change to help others, to stop violence, cure disease, end suffering, and bring about equity are not Godless. Many of us turn to the Bible and see these very actions not only asked of us by God, but begged for. We do not seek to destroy religion, only prevent it from being used to justify hate, war and fear. The traditional values we seek to overturn are those that are in contrast to God's love for us, and in turn our love for each other. Just as slavery, segregation and racism were once traditional values, so now is hatred of homosexuals, oppression of the poor, and a disregard for the sick. Those who seek to create violence through war, hatred and fear, and wealth for a few at the expense of many, create a secular agenda, divorced from all meaningful Christian values. We on the left fight this, making our cause arguably more Godly than the right.

I say bring it to those who use the term secular progressive. I embrace it, and hope you continue to look as foolish saying it in the future as you do now. We know where we stand, and we will not be pushed back by the likes of scared little boys, afraid of losing power. We seek to Love God's people, and enact God's mercy, justice and rule over the land and people. It will not be shelved because of some names being tossed around, or labels being placed on us. While you cleverly craft the words to stop us, we will be doing the work you so desperately want to stop.