It seems to me that many people I know are hung up on labels.

Everything needs a label.

In your mind, take a stroll through the halls of your old high school. Can you hear the labels? Can you remember where you fit in? Fitting in meant getting the label needed. The right label could get you just about anything in high school. It could get you an invite to THE party or it could break you. Popular vs. Unpopular. Bitch vs. Diva.

Have you ever been somewhere, like a big birthday party or a block party, where you know most of the people but not all of the people? You need to mingle with some people that you don't know. You need to perfect your "surface" conversation. The "how are yous?" and the "what do you dos?"

Some people aren't good at surface conversation. You know who you are. You are the person who announces that you just had a boil removed from your ass to the person to your left whose last name you don't even know. You are this-lady. You are the person who blurts out someones name and calls them (gasp) liberal.

It doesn't matter to you if the person you just denounced as liberal may or may not be a friend of anyone at the party. You don't care because 1) all reasonable people think and believe like you, and 2) that's what Jesus would do.

Hold your horses...I know what you are thinking. Am I at the right blog? We don't talk about religion or politics on this blog. We talk about boobies exposed at the pool and what's for lunch in the cafeteria. Don't fret. We will get back to our regularly scheduled program soon, but today I wanna talk about the word liberal.

According to the Dictionary.com, the word liberal means open to new behavior or opinions; favorable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms.

Of course there are more political definitions of liberal that say that a liberal is someone who rejects logical and biblical standards, often for self-centered reasons.

I am assuming that this acquaintance, when denouncing my friend as a liberal, meant the latter, but who can really tell. When asked to elaborate on how they came to this conclusion with limited interaction with said individual they simple said "It's obvious. They wear tie-dye."

Wow. I like tie-dye.

Who knew I was giving away so much of my personal beliefs simply by picking out a shirt. Did you know that people can tell, just by what you are wearing, what you believe? What you value?

Based on this simple conversation with a delusional person, I have decided I will no longer keep you guessing what I believe.

I believe that people who were open to new ideas ended slavery, I believe people who rejected the mainstream way of doing things gave women the right to vote. I believe that Jesus was welcoming and forgiving not only to the woman who committed adultery but also to the tax collectors. I believe that allowing someone to die alone because they are not "legally" bound to the person they have shared their life with should be a illegal.

I believe there is only one that should ever be allowed to judge me (or any of my friends) and I hope when I get there he is wearing tie-dye.