Nick Hexum from 311. Proud to be a liberal and saying it loudly.

A disturbing trend in society today is the use of the word "liberal" as a derogatory label.
I believe this is due to widespread misunderstanding of the true definition of the word.

According to Webster’s dictionary a liberal is “one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways.” To describe someone as liberal is to say that they are a person “having social views favoring reform and progress, tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition.”

If society rejects people who are liberal then by definition society is favoring people who are closed minded, resistant to progress and reform, and intolerant of change. Is that really what we want?

>snip

In our quest to raise awareness about global warming and other environmental issues, I also hope to raise awareness of the true meaning of the word "liberal" and to help remove the stigma from the word.