A friend writes to chide me for making the claim that many liberals don't require evidence to believe what they believe. They often think as they do, I averred, simply because it comports or coheres with their liberal worldview. My friend thought this was tantamount to calling liberals liars. On the contrary, I certainly was not saying that many liberals are liars - although if pressed I'd have to agree that some surely are and that many of these even endorse lying as a strategy (read, for instance, Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals).
In my post, however, I was making the more modest claim that many on the left are simply uncritical and gullible. For example, here's a list of ten beliefs many liberals hold, sometimes devoutly, despite the fact that they have little or no evidence for them:
1) That candidate Obama was qualified to hold the highest office in the land.
2) That President Obama is a natural born citizen of the U.S. (This is not to say he isn't, but rather that belief that he is requires an act of faith since he refuses to present his birth certificate).
3) That the Democrats' health care reform proposal will be good for the country.
4) That global warming is caused by human activity and is an imminent threat to the world.
5) That the Arizona law will result in oppressive police tactics against innocent Americans.
6) That intelligent design is just gussied up creationism (Most lay-people who believe this know nothing about ID. They just know that it's wrong.).
7) That tea-partiers are racists.
8) That George Bush and the CIA were behind the 9/11 attacks on New York.
9) That the Palestinians genuinely desire to live in peace with Israel.
10) That an unborn child is nothing more, ontologically speaking, than a blob of tissue.
You can probably think of more examples. If so, please feel free to share them with us.
RLC