The so-called "liberal bias"

Much has been made of the so-called "liberal bias" in our nation, particularly in the mass media. And, maybe there is something to that idea--I'm not sure, partly because I don't even know how to measure such a thing. And I should add that there are "conservatives" out there--columnist George Will, for example--who have a reasonably informed and coherent point of view, even if I seldom agree with the tone and substance of what they say.

However, some things are really not "liberal vs. conservative" issues. When a relative tells me that it's a "fact" that God condemns homosexuality, that's not a "conservative" view--it's an ignorant view. When Pat Robertson counsels a woman on the air who is engaged to an atheist that she needs to break up with the man because he is aligned with Satan, that's not a "conservative" stance--that's sheer idiocy. And when televangelist Jack Van Impe says that the rapture will occur sometime between 2002 and 2018, that's not a "conservative" idea, but a crazy one. (I dearly hope that both Jack and I are around in 2019--I'd love to hear what he says then!)

In other words, sometimes what we call "liberal" views are merely informed views, and what we sometimes call "conservative" beliefs are simply ignorance. How different would our understanding of some of these issues possibly be if we saw them for what they actually are: not a conflict between liberalism and conservatism, but a gigantic chasm separating enlightenment from stupidity.