Topic!Cindy, my dear, you have now reinforced my desire to never, ever, ever, get a LJ. Or have children, especially sons. (I am assuming the "he" is one of the boychilds, as the MO doesn't sound like the Princess.)
I want her children to release a statement saying "Forgive her; she's a daft old bat."
I think partly the power of the religious right is also a perception issue. If you support helping the disadvantaged, not bombing people if we don't have to, or protecting the environment for the next generation from religious convictions then you are labeled as liberal as opposed to the religious left.
there was an article in the Economist a week ago about the rise of the religious left. Well, a push for the Democrats to take back some of the Christian identification. Which I personally applaud, but the article noted scepticism about whether it could be sustained. Basically noted that the religious right is more entrenched, trends within Christianity favour them, and they fit more congenially with the rest of the Republican Party than the religious left does with the rest of the Democrats.