Close-Minded Conservatives – Open-Minded Liberals…?
A friend of mine sent me this question to help her solidify her answer for an final. I found the question intriguing so I sat down and rambled this response out in one breath.
“In your opinion, are people who are religiously and politically conservative more close-minded, while conversley, those who are liberal in values are inherently more liberal-minded?”
Read my response, let me know what you think, agree/disagree how would you answer this question?
To an extent Yes, and No. This is an interesting question and it can vary dependent upon the definition of “close- minded” and if being close minded is deemed as something wrong. In the wide scope everyone is close minded because they are receptive to some concepts yet reluctantly accepting of others. I don’t think there is any way for a man to accepts all things and believe in all things at once just as no one can be fully hot and fully cold at the same time. If “inherently” liberal-minded speaks of all men being born into sin, thus not being able to effective differentiate between what is right and wrong, yes, we are all born more liberal minded. We are all born with a distorted view of good and bad and most think they are good in God’s eyes because of what they did or didn’t do.
Nonetheless, I believe those who are more conservative minded have a better sense of reality. If having a more thorough understanding of fundamental principles makes someone close-minded, I’m content with wearing that label. Suppose someone angrily shouted at you because you adamantly stressed to them they must ride a bicycle with their feet. However they feel you’re just being close-minded because they’re intent that people should be able to ride a bicycles with their hands and their ears. This is a farfetched example but it points out an important truth to this ‘close-minded’ business. A bicycle was engineered to be operated by using your feet, and if you were to ask the engineer & inventor of the bike “why?”, he’d explain in great detail the purpose of the pedals and how they cause the chain to rotate thus rotating the wheels and such.
Now when you look at politics everyone has an opinion or a strategy. But instead of everyone coming up with their own ideas and solutions on how to ride, what if we simply asked the inventor how this mechanism of politics is supposed to effectively operate. I believe out of this inquiry comes conservatism. When we seek to look at politics through the supreme lens of God then and only then can we see it in its proper place in society as a whole. Thus out of this perspective we see “The government that governs less, governs best” which gives birth to the term “Conserve”-atism.
Those who think liberally many times don’t actually think but they confuse, feeling with thinking. Thomas Sowell hit it on the head with this quote;
“The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.”
I commend liberals for their compassion for change but compassion without a plan will only bring more trouble. My pastor used to say sometimes, when people attempt to be more open to any and every idea they open their minds too much, and their brains fall out. 
Liberal are more liberal minded because many times they yearn for immediate results while conservative minded people want lasting and enduring results because they understand the rules better. Just as we accept and respect the law of gravity, there are certain things we don’t do because we are aware of the consequences of treating gravity nonchalantly. Parallel to this, their are laws of nature and natures God, sowing and reaping, laws of economics and financial cycles that need to be respected. And being conservative minded may make you more “close-minded” but within this close minded approach dwells more applicable wisdom. I Came across this verse in my morning reading and it goes along with the perspective aforementioned and the paragraph to follow;
The righteous considers the cause of the poor, But the wicked does not understand such knowledge. (Prov.29:7)
A conservative mindsets considers all options and the consequences of each action to yield the best results possible. Does this mean all conservative plans are the best, Not at all. However if you want to chop down a tree you want to start closer to the roots and conservative offer solutions that target root causes while liberals tend to feel we must first chop the branches off. Liberal approaches seem backwards in the sake of immediate results. However, no matter how many branches you cut the essence of life dwells at the root. Yes at the root is thicker, yes it will take longer, yes it will be harder work then cutting off smaller branches, but it will adequately get the job done. A conservative/ close-minded person stranded on an island understands the necessity to conserve and ration. The liberal mind seeing and considering the tragedy and panic of being stranded informs everyone to eat as much as they can out of a heart of consolation. This is not to say that conservative minded people are less compassionate but rather more strategic about their compassion, to which I must add; Christ didn’t heal every one He came across when he walked the earth. However what he did in the earth created a river that flowed to every man that he could drink from and be healed.
So, are those more religiously/conservatively minded more prone to being close-minded? Yes, If close minded is defined in a sense of an astrologist telling a child he’s better off seeing the stars through an actually telescope rather than his paper rolled telescope… then I’m all for being close minded.
All in all, balance is essential, however balance inside the proper confines, not just an array of whimsical ideas. Just as you’d be open to new suggestions on playing a game of basketball, there are some fundamental rules that cannot be changed or the game ceases being “basketball’, this is what I mean by balance. Balance is sensible ideas that remain in the confines of the concept at hand. Liberals many times are unaware or refuse to consider the ‘rules’ of governing, making them more “liberal-minded.”
*Also my definition of the term liberal is along the lines of left wing Occupy participants. Or those who demand welfare, government intervention with no idea where it comes from and such. Not the root definition that gained its ground in the era of John Locke.
