I sometimes find it strange that some of the most narrow-minded and prejudiced people I meet call themselves liberals. I was under the impression that, by definition, liberal people were supposed to be void of bigotry and not blind followers of tradition. That sounds great to me, and by that definition, I do my very best to be a liberal. Yet I am usually saddened when about half the people I talk to who call themselves “liberals” seem to be terribly bigoted when it comes to conservatives and opposing views, whether political or otherwise.

The concept of an independent-minded and unbiased person is nice, but I’ve noticed it’s somewhat elusive in reality. One of the most cliché themes in the history of human interaction is using hate or mockery to punish people for not subscribing to your views. And yet, I get it all the time from people who call themselves liberal.

Try mentioning you are a moderate, conservative, or heaven help you, a Republican in front of one of the stereotypical angry liberals. If he or she manages not to make some tired and predictable “W” joke, then he or she is virtually guaranteed to assume you are a raging religious fanatic, an oppressor of freedoms and mentally subnormal.

News Flash: not all Republicans are colossal Bush fans, and the ones who aren’t get very frustrated by people who think they are. Many conservatives would like a smaller government that focuses more on protecting the country than interfering with the moral status of the populace.

If any liberals reading this are wondering why I am explaining something so painfully obvious, then please note that you are not one of the liberals to whom I am referring.

The fact is that too many people just make assumptions based on what they think they know. If you tell people you are Christian, they often assume that you don’t believe in evolution, that you think anyone with alternate views is going to hell and that you subscribe to a literal translation of the Bible. In some cases it’s true, but not always.

For my purposes, it’s irrelevant what a person believes. My point is that far too many people who consider themselves free-thinkers are shackled by opinions based on misinformation they haven’t bothered to research themselves. I am so tired of people who talk superiorly about how they could never be religious because they couldn’t ignore what they know from science (or some other common misconception about religion), when really they just don’t take the time to learn whether the views of the religion they are refusing actually conflict with science.

There are few things I enjoy more than intelligent conversation with people who have views that oppose my own. I think without testing your ideas and comparing your reasoning, you can’t be sure of anything. However, people who interrupt polite conversation to make snide remarks about leaders, policies or beliefs that the person they are trying to insult may or may not endorse in some feeble attempt to feel superior really disgrace all the wonderful aspects of the liberal ideal and undermine any semblance of cooperation and understanding between discussion participants.

Now, I am in no way claiming that there aren’t intelligent, thinking liberals or deeply religious liberals, or that there aren’t horribly offensive and closed-minded conservatives. I can attest to having met a lot of each. I just wanted to help ease a bit of tension and right a few misconceptions I’ve noticed quite a bit lately.

Obviously, in any discussion of deep beliefs things can tend to get heated or personal. I think it would eliminate a lot of problems if we all tried to be a bit more liberal in the way we view and treat each other.

E-mail Kate at [email protected]