A claim commonly made is that liberalism is based in emotions. In fact that is untrue.
Probably the most powerful liberal institution in America is the academia. Academia is not a feeling culture; it is a thinking culture. It conducts inquiry into any number of phenomena, including the social phenomena. Feeling, in academia, is known as bias and is not seen as an adequate guide to understanding reality.
Another strong liberal force in America is astrology and metaphysics. This, once again, is not based on feelings. It is based on esoteric knowledge and consciousness science. Some say that it is a science and others say that it is a pseudo-science. In either case it is not feelings.
With Hollywood, the accusation holds more credibility; but it still is untrue. Most of what Hollywood produces is based not on feelings but on beliefs. Some are psychological, some are metaphysical, some are Jewish and some are Christian. In all cases, once again, it is not feelings.
Feelings of course can be taken in any number of directions. Conservatives have shown themselves just as capable of talking to people’s feelings as the liberals; in many ways they have exceeded them in it. Reagan used to be an actor before he became a politician, and he had a lot of Hollywood tricks under his command. He was known as the great communicator because he knew how to deal with people’s feelings and work with them to his advantage.
A lot of the Bible is also feeling and sentiment. The Psalms, for one, are very emotional. The Christians who attack feelings don’t know what they are talking about. If we have been created, then the feelings are there by divine design. And if our nature is fallen or of the Satan, this extends to thinking and feeling equally.
So it is important that this be understood. Liberalism is not based on feelings; it is a set of beliefs. And as in case of all beliefs, they have both the feeling component and the thinking component. Both liberals and conservatives deal with feelings all the time. They take them into different directions. And neither have the monopoly either on thinking or on feeling.