The Marriage of the Liberals and the Conservatives

God Forbid! ... or ... God Ordained?

October 2, 1996

Dear Editor,

Justice versus mercy, man versus woman, left brain versus right brain, conservative versus liberal: is not the ideal state for each of these a balance or "marriage"?

Justice and mercy? ... yes. Man and woman? ... supposedly yes. Left-brain and right-brain? ... again, yes. Why not, then, conservative and liberal? Preposterous? Perhaps not.

Let's think about this for a minute. On one end of the political spectrum are the conservatives, and within that classification has arisen what is now called the "religious right" (and boy, are they right!). On the other end of the spectrum are the liberals, and within that classification perhaps we could identify an equivalent subset and call them the "new age left."

Traditionally, these two factions have viewed each other with disdain, constantly quarrelling and criticizing each other. Separate and in their extreme, the two certainly don't have a lot in common, nor do they have kind words to say about each other. Shouldn't that alone say something about the ultimate compatibility of these two in a marriage-like relationship?

Let's look at the "religious right" for a second. Here's a question. Regarding the left-brain versus right-brain classification ("left brain" being analytical, methodical, strict; and "right brain" being intuitive, spontaneous, and permissive): Q. Is the "religious right" left-brained or right-brained? A. The answer is obvious: they are very left brain: "Do this, don't do that; this is good that is bad; black and white."

The "new age left," on the other hand, is very right-brained. Just think of the hippie movement of the 60's. Enough said.

Okay, so if the "religious right" is left-brained, and the "new age left" is right-brained; and the left brain is male and right brain is female; then could there not ideally be a marriage between these two? Behold, it shall come to pass that the left shall be right and the right shall be left, and twain shall be one.

Seriously, though, in an ideal marriage, the strengths of each half are augmented and the weaknesses are superseded, creating a fantastic synergism. Might this be true politically too?

Just something to think about.

 

Sterling D. Allan; Provo, Utah

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