Are You a Liberal??

My sister in-law Valerie sent me a link to an interesting political website last week (http://www.dennisprager.com) and on it was a fun little questionnaire to help "the lost and confused" (or the plain curious) decide whether or not they lean liberal. I took it and well not too surprisingly - confirmed that I am in fact NOT a liberal.

Take the test and see where you line-up (Here's the link to the actual website questionnaire: http://www.dennisprager.com/areyouliberal.html)

Are you a liberal? YES If you believe the following (my responses are italicized):

1. Standards for admissions to universities, fire departments, etc. should be lowered for people of color.

DISAGREE
Maximum - admissions might be lowered depending on public school funding or lack thereof (i.e., the poorest school districts without proper means of delivering "quality" education might get lowered standards for an allowable percentage of say the top 1 or 2% of students. This might inevitably target people of color but I don't feel that race (like, sex or age) should be a direct criteria. I'm also not opposed to applying addtional entrant criteria (i.e., voluteer work, additional essays) for selection of those 1 or 2% of students

2. Bilingual education for children of immigrants, rather than immersion in English, is good for them and for America.

DISAGREE
As if our public school systems could afford it. There should be ONE common language. One guess as to which language (and no, it's not Spanish). More than one common language would lead to a disintegration of national unity and further divide the races/racial classes

3. Murderers should never be put to death.

DISAGREE
Ted Bundy's and Charles Manson's of the world - fry em. My tax dollars will be better spent elsewhere

4. During the Cold War, America should have adopted a nuclear arms freeze.

DISAGREE
In a simple, naïve world - sure!

5. Colleges should not allow ROTC programs.

DISAGREE
Students should have more options, not less

6. It was wrong to wage war against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.

DISAGREE
Another detailed blog for future post I'm sure

7. Poor parents should not be allowed to have vouchers to send their children to private schools.

AGREE
I believe that if private schools want to open up their doors for greater diversity, it's their right to do so. If not, sorry!

8. It is good that trial lawyers and teachers unions are the two biggest contributors to the Democratic Party.

HEH?
I don't understand the question; A jab at us repubs no doubt. People will contribute to the party they stand with. If you're a dem - support the dems! We (republicans) probably don't want you anyway.

9. Marriage should be redefined from male-female to any two people.

AGREE
I'm a VERY weak YES. My previous voting record has always been NO on this one (for reasons having nothing to do with religion) but my position is weening. At the moment - yes but depending on my mood - I'm a flip-flopper for sure

10. A married couple should not have more of a right to adopt a child than two men or two women.

DISAGREE
Undecided. I do believe that families exist and can exist in all different shapes and sizes. If a child is loved and that child 'feels' loved - who can argue that that's a bad thing? If this is a question of married couples vs. unmarried couples in general - then I believe married couples should have more rights to adopt. If this is a question of married man/women couples vs. married same-sex couples then I'm undecided. I'm still struggling with the same-sex marriage so this - as children are involved - would be a stretch for me

11. The Boy Scouts should not be allowed to use parks or any other public places and should be prohibited from using churches and synagogues for their meetings.

DISAGREE
Seriously, who cares?

12. The present high tax rates are good.

DISAGREE
We (me, myself and I) hate taxes.

13. Speech codes on college campuses are good and American values are bad.

DISAGREE
I have to research this one further but my gut reaction is to believe that anything ending in 'American Values are bad' - has to be 'not good'

14. The Israelis and Palestinians are morally equivalent.

AGREE
I have to answer YES to this one simply because I'm not in a position to generalize

15. The United Nations is a moral force for good in the world, and therefore America should be subservient to it and such international institutions as a world court.

DISAGREE
Subservient - no; collaborative - yes

16. It is good that colleges have dropped hundreds of men's sports teams in order to meet gender-based quotas.

DISAGREE
An utterly rediculous position. I defer to an earlier comment - students should have more choices, not less

17. No abortions can be labeled immoral.

DISAGREE
I am emphatically pro-choice but I do believe in setting boundaries

18. Restaurants should be prohibited by law from allowing customers to choose between a smoking and a non-smoking section.

DISAGREE
Not that it seems to matter these days as more and more cities are instituting smoke-free policies but I believe it should be up to the business-owner. If customers don't want to choose - they can go where their preferences are better suited

19. High schools should make condoms available to students and teach them how to use them.

AGREE
I laugh at the notion that condoms are a prelude to sex. Has anyone noticed the number of teenage pregnancies going UP???

20. Racial profiling for terrorists is wrong -- a white American grandmother should as likely be searched as a Saudi young male.

DISAGREE
Fine line here; we should tread carefully. Beyond the standard airport-type security measures, I think anyone 'suspect' should be searched but I don't think there's anything wrong with adding extra layers of caution based on historical incidence. However, if the process is deemed completely ineffective then we should look to other alternatives rather than clinging-on to ineffective policies as a 'safety crutch'

21. Racism and poverty -- not a lack of fathers and a crisis of values -- are the primary causes of violent crime in the inner city.

AGREE
Along with a good dose of lack of education and discipline (from a father or a mother)

22. It is wrong and unconstitutional for students to be told, "God bless you" at their graduation.

DISAGREE
Unconstitutional is a stretch

23. No culture is morally superior to any other.

AGREE
Indisputable in my opinion. You can't generalize about other cultures that you know so little or nothing about (particularly if your own - i.e., ours - is rooted in a morally questionable past)