Liberal and Progressive Bias

I am continually surprised at the lack of awareness some of my progressive[1] friends have as to their own ideology biases.  They actually believe that they are free from all ideology[2] and the biases that come with them, which to some degree makes them very scary people.  It also makes them some of the most judgmental people I know.  They seem to question anyone’s intelligence who does not share their so-called progressive thinking.

They seem to believe that doubting and questioning all authority is the way forward unless it happens to be their authority that is being questioned. Most of them have been indoctrinated by liberal universities into a secular humanism that borders on atheism.  Of course, they are very critical of other groups that do the same, i. e., religious groups. When others do it, they call it brain-washing or indoctrination; when they do it, they call it education.  This behavior establishes the fact that their beliefs are laden with ideological bias.

When criticizing other world views, they typically draw their data from the most vulgar of their opponent’s belief and behavior, which demonstrates their awareness of the weakness of their own arguments.  This is especially true of their attacks on Christianity.  I seldom hear them attack believers like Mother Theresa, Kierkegaard, or Jesus Himself.  They seem to believe that if you can find a counterfeit of something, the discovery itself proves there is no authentic thing.  Finding or building straw men does not mean there are no real men.

I have also noticed an anti-religious bias among progressives and liberals that I am sure they feel justified in having.  This bias seems to be especially strong toward the Christian religion.  They seem to have a hard time tolerating anyone who believes themselves to be correct.  People who believe they are right are biased, and progressives are biased toward those who are biased.  Of course, the only difference between them and Christians is that Christians know they are biased for Christ, and progressives do not know that they are biased for their ideology.[3]  Their contempt for Christianity seemed to be unreasonable to me until I realized that you hate what you fear and you fear what you do not know or understand.  Most liberals and progressives have a very shallow understanding of religion.

[1] I use the term progressive to denote all leftist groups.  This includes atheists, liberals, and to a lesser degree, libertarians.

[2] Ignorance of one’s ignorance is the sin of all ideologues.

[3] The original word bias did not carry a negative connotation.  It simply meant that one leaned in the direction of something, for example, “The man was biased toward virtue.”