To me, the important divisions between people are between those who want fair & equal opportunity and freedom to THINK as they please....and those who want to restrict rights of others and FORCE or INTIMIDATE others to do it 'their' way...I guess I am sort of a liberal with funny digressions...(freedom of religion should mean the right to go to any church of their choosing, etc...NOT the right to insert their beliefs into public gatherings, schools, political campaigns, "pledges of allegience", etc.)

**Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion for those who so choose**

part of the definition problem is that you sometimes find yourself holding positions similar to people you don't really like or respect...and then you realize...THEY hold the position for the 'wrong reason'...and this is where I part company from many conservatives. I have VERY strong beliefs about things like population control, the death penalty, government meddling in peoples lives, education, immigration, race relations...etc. But I seem to approach these issues from a 'liberal' viewpoint, whis to me is sort of a "greatest good for the greatest number" attitude...whereas I see MANY 'conservatives' reaching their conclusions from an attitude that smells to me of "self interest" and the "Golden Rule"..(you know, "them that has the gold, makes the rules").

But in the long run, a lot of it boils down to the old saw, "It all depends on whose ox is being gored"

In Nietzsche's "Also Sprach Zarathustra", he has on old woman saying-"Of course it was a just war, my son died in it"......these days, it could also be "Of course it was a just war, I made a LOT of money from it."