Chris Storms

Figuring out liberals is sort of like trying to figure out women, but I think I’m on to something here.

I work with a guy who hates conservatives.  I mean he genuinely hates them.  He’s flat out told me so.  Weird thing is, he doesn’t hate me, even though I have a picture on my bulletin board of me shaking hands with Sean Hannity.  My friend justifies his un-hatred of me by telling me I’m really a liberal at heart.  Surprisingly, I agree with him.  I am a liberal when it comes to my own personal responsibility to use my God-given resources to generously help others.  But I’m a conservative in the sense that I feel a strong responsibility to make good decisions with my resources and I believe in other people’s personal freedom to make decisions about how to use what God has entrusted to them as well.

Why does my friend hate conservatives so much?  Because he thinks they are all greedy.  Yep, all of them.  Forget the fact that conservatives by and large are more generous than liberals.  The truth is, he thinks they are greedy because they don’t use their resources the way HE thinks they should.

Even my pastor used a definition of conservative this week along those lines.  He said conservatives want to “hold on” to what they have.  I thought, wait I’m conservative and I don’t want to just hold on to what I have.  I just want to be wise with what God has blessed me with, so I can use it responsibly to bless others.  I want to be a good steward & not waste it foolishly.  That takes a conservative, thoughtful approach to resource management.  Sometimes I give and sometimes I choose to hold back because I’ve prayed & thought it through.  I believe that’s what God wants me to do.

A buddy of mine posted a tweet the other day that asked why you’re voting Republican in this election.  So, I tweeted him back this response.

b/c I believe in economic freedom, personal responsibility, & the ingenuity of ordinary Americans and local institutions.

That’s as simple & straightforward an answer as I could give in 140 characters or less.  This morning I did a search to find out what other people said, and up popped this gem. Continue reading »