How To Talk To Your Friendly Neighborhood Liberal - Five Liberal Talking Points, With Rebuttals

Ask yourself these questions. What do the activists of progressive ideas in your city or neighborhood believe? Does it matter? The answer is yes, it is critical to know the bywords and misrepresentations of certain “social reform” or “civil rights” groups when you hear them, so you can engage in civil yet effectual public discourse when necessary.

In the interest of public discourse, here are five hypothetical talking points you may potentially hear from a liberal neighbor or friend, with suggested rebuttals you may offer. 

1. Progressives pay lip service to the role conservative values may have played in your state's history. However, today those who favor liberal ideals generally see those conservative values as outdated and thereby obstacles to the “right” to do whatever they want without consequences.

Rebuttal: Generally missing from this position is an actual historical synopsis of these conservative values that they no longer esteem. If they see these values as a positive foundation in their state's history, why is it that they are no longer valued? Have a conversation about the positive effects of values such as:  the value of life, the traditional family, religious freedom, and fiscal responsibility.

2. “Conservative” legislation and policy decisions are generally seen as being perpetrated on the populace by state conservatives. Conservative policy is viewed as bigoted and backwards thinking.

Rebuttal: Clearly, the word “conservative” is code for values that are no longer esteemed by progressives. What they are actually saying is that they want your state to be like other states, which excuses people to behave in whatever way they want without having to accept the consequences, i.e., sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, entitlement lifestyles, etc. The truth is that the Constitution only guarantees the right to pursue happiness; it does not guarantee the happiness.

Another problem with these inflammatory statements is the implication that legislation is somehow passed against the desire of the voting majority. This is not so, in truth elected officials are working in tandem with the participation of the people, hence the term “democratic” government.

The obvious contradiction in these accusations is to accuse elected representatives of manipulating the people who elected them when they put forward legislation that the people vote for.

3. Progressives claim our nation is at a pivotal point in our history, stating that equality, progressivism, and civil rights (code for causes that protect my right to do whatever I want) are critical domestic issues, and that your state has fallen behind if it clings to conservative values.

Rebuttal: You could agree that we are indeed at a critical juncture in our nation.  And where we go from here will be partly determined by the participation of its citizens.  This, of course, is the definition of democracy.  No one on either side of the aisle should have a problem with that.

However, progressives make statements about what is important to America as if it is a forgone conclusion that the issues they champion are the most important to your state’s future when in fact your state’s reputation is not based on their success to replace principles and values they do not esteem.

You could claim that “history” is the key word in this argument because a simple review of the history of progressivism would do two things initially.  It would be an eye-opener for anyone willing to research the major consequences that have come from these ideas, and it would serve as a crucial reminder of its failings. 

The 18th-century French Revolution is an obvious example. The autocrats of France sought, in part, to advance society beyond religious principles, and the result was a “de-Christianized” France.

By 1794, the radical revolutionaries had literally attempted to ‘de-Christianize’ France by closing down churches, forcing priests to resign or emigrate, and inventing new republican cults to replace Christianity…In the later years of the Revolution, the Directory (1795–99) experimented with separating church and state yet continued to view Christianity as potentially subversive and to pursue anticlerical or de-Christianizing policies. The French Revolution and religion, 1795–1815

The reality is that the values and morality that some are so eager to progress beyond are the only stable foundation on which a society can be built.

In fact, history shows that when tyrants try to run the world without God and His infinite wisdom, confusion and descent into despotism is the result. Everywhere God has been removed from a society, decline is close behind, even if the consequences take a few hundred years to unfold, and to date, there are no exceptions to this rule.

4. Stealth progressive PACs support political candidates in states that promote the ideals of liberalism and progressive reform at the state level as well as at the national level. Likewise, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is not shy about their agenda.

Rebuttal: Here is a pointed question to ask.  Is the progressive objective really just to “promote” progressive ideas?  Be sure to point out that when conservative ideas are promoted, it is equal to perpetrating bigoted legislation upon the people, but when progressive legislation is promoted, it is okay. This is an important distinction, and you could point out, it is obviously hypocritical.

In truth, progressives are less concerned with the future of your state and more concerned with doing what they want and avoiding the consequences.

5. Progressives like to make sweeping statements, claiming that when social fairness and progressive ideas are rejected in “modern society,” the values “we all embrace” will suffer.

Rebuttal: Where do you start with this notion? Clearly, the citizens of America value life, fiscal responsibility, traditional family, etc. Progressives claim conservative concepts are the “backwards” cravings of bigoted people. The truth is, just because the progressive agenda is voted out by the democratic process doesn’t mean we don’t have a democracy.

History proves that conservative values do more to provide the bedrock for a healthy and enduring society than any “reform” to date. Today, it is clearer than ever that, in truth, progressive ideals only cause a society to “regress” back to barbaric behavior, where the only things that matter are the selfish and self-centered desires that more traditional values help to quell.

Our nation is more divided than ever between the left and the right, between conservative and liberal. We are at odds on critically important political and social matters. Following the example Charlie Kirk lived, we must defend our convictions with all the civility we can muster, no matter what our opponents do or say.

The goal of the Democrats is to replace Constitutional rights with "causes." The goal of the Republican Party must be to protect Constitutional rights from being replaced by causes. As conservatives, we want all American citizens to thrive. For that reason, we stand for life, for religious liberty, traditional marriage, and economic freedom. And stand we must.

(Written 10/5/2014, revised 10/5/2025, by Edward Acosta)