What is a moderate? In Tuesday’s election exit polls, 40 some percent of people described themselves as moderates. Conservatives came in next in the 30s. Self-described liberals came in last. After the election, Brit Hume of Fox News, raised the question about moderates and asked “Who are the moderates? We need to have a discussion about this.” So, what is a moderate? Here are a few thoughts.
1. A moderate is a liberal who hasn’t moved as far to the left as the liberal has in certain issues. But, he is continually leaning and drifting to the left, not the right.
2. A moderate is a liar. He is a liberal who just doesn’t like the negative connotations of the word liberal, so he doesn’t admit to being a liberal, but he is definitely a liberal in every sense of the word.
3. A moderate is inconsistent and confused, not realizing the ramifications of his presuppositions. As he meets with those who are more consistent, he will be driven to consistency or to deliberately adopt inconsistency as his platform.
4. A moderate is one who likes to think of himself as “balanced.” So, if we take the far left to be an “extreme” and the far right to be an “extreme,” the moderate is one who likes to think he has found truth in the middle. With respect to abortion, the far right says it’s a baby and there are no circumstances justifying the killing of babies. The far left says abortion is fine under any circumstances. The noble moderates think they have avoided the problems of each side and say that killing a baby is OK some of the time. Of course, they will call it choice or abortion. They’ll never call it killing. But it is. And so a moderate is someone who argues that killing babies is OK some of the time.
Regarding homosexuality, the far left says it’s normal and natural, so mind your own business. The far right says it’s immoral behavior and shouldn’t be recognized by any kind of government approval. Moderates say “Well, it’s not for me, but I’m not going to judge others.” Moderates (like George Bush) support civil unions. They won’t call homosexuality immoral and evil and something that should be banned by law. They also won’t support gay marriage. So, they strike a “balance” between morality and complete debauchery with the “balanced” approach of civil unions.
News flash! There is such a thing as right and wrong! Somewhere in the middle of those two extremes is nothing but confusion and the justification of wrong. If you are not in the right, you are in the wrong, whatever shades you want to color it with.
We’ve heard the axiom, “All things in moderation.” Is that true in morality? Hardly. Shall we lie in moderation? Steal in moderation? Break the Sabbath in moderation? Commit adultery in moderation? Worship idols in moderation? Covet in moderation?
Being a moderate is simply being a confused sinner drifting further into immorality and evil. The moderate is sliding down a greased slope into the abyss; he simply hasn’t yet reached the bottom. Why hasn’t he yet reached the bottom? Because he still has a God-given conscience that won’t allow him to peacefully give himself over to complete debauchery. But that conscience can be seared, and once it is, his reservations will dissipate and he will no longer be a moderate. He will be a full-blown liberal. In the meantime, he sews together the fig leaves of “moderation” and congratulates himself that he is “balanced.”
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