Progressivism and liberalism are not the same thing! [View All]

Often on DU the term or label progressivism is thrown around as replacement for liberalism, which unfortunately has been smeared/discredited by the right.

I don't know if anyone caught last night's "On Point" on NPR, it was an excellent show. Progressivism of the 19th century was a movement by white middle class Protestants to control the social behavior of both the working class and the newly mega-rich. Prohibition, eugenics and sexual behavior laws are important ways which classical progressivism differs from modern liberalism which exalts personal freedom and expression of thought.

No doubt progressivism has given us many important economic and governmental institutions but those who seek new and more pleasing political labels must realize that evangelical Christianity shares the closest ties to what in the 19th and 20th centuries was the progressive movement.