‘Irreconcilable Differences’ between Conservatives & Liberals Revealed in Survey

Generally, when you hear the term ‘irreconcilable difference’, you think of a married couple getting a divorce who not only no longer love each other but differ on many, if not all, of the major issues in their lives. The couple no longer have any common ground on anything that they can agree on and feel that it is best for both members of the marriage to divorce and go their separate ways.

According to LegalDictionary.com, irreconcilable differences is defined as:

“The existence of significant differences between a married couple that are so great and beyond resolution as to make the marriage unworkable and for which the law permits a divorce.”

“The usual basis for granting a divorce (dissolution) in no-fault divorce states. If one party says the marriage in irreconcilable and refuses to reconcile then such differences are proved to exist.”

Synonyms for irreconcilable differences are:

“complete alienation, complete intractability, immovability, immovable resolution, immutability, incurableness, … intransigence, rigidity, rigorism, ruined relationship, total inflexibility, unmoved positions and unyieldingness.”

When you think about Washington politics today, all of those definitions and synonyms come to mind. Both parties may say that they want to work together in a bipartisan way, when in fact, the relationship between conservatives (Republicans) and liberals (Democrats) is best described as irreconcilable differences and a new study reveals that to be true.

The American Culture & Faith Institute conducted a survey which clearly displays the deep divide between the two warring political factions in our nation. One interesting facet of the survey is that the single most important issue causing the irreconcilable differences between the two political worldviews has to do with one’s worldview of God.

In the survey, WORLDVIEW SURVEY REVEALS “IRRECONCILABLE” DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERALS, they asked 20 key questions. Their report states:

Drawing from a nationwide survey of adults that measured how many people have a biblical worldview, the research discovered that people who are politically conservative are more than twice as likely as those who are politically liberal to have biblical positions on the twenty belief indicators tested by ACFI. In addition, the survey found that political conservatives are about 60% more likely to hold biblical positions on those indicators than are those who qualify as politically moderate.

There were 15 belief statements among the 20 included in the survey for which conservatives were substantially more likely than liberals to hold a biblical point of view – that is, a difference between the two groups of at least 25 percentage points. Those included the following differences:

• Saying that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe who still rules it today (a 43 percentage point difference between the two segments)
• Strongly agreeing that the main purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God (40-point gap)
• Asserting that everyone is a sinner in need of a savior, repentance and forgiveness (39-point difference)
• Believing that the Bible is the word of God, with no errors (38-point gap)
• Strongly disagreeing that Satan does not exist but is just a symbol of evil (36-point gap)
• Saying that God created human beings in what is pretty much their present form, just as the Bible says (34-point difference)
• Strongly agreeing that the Bible is totally accurate in the life principles it conveys (33-point gap)
• Believing that God is aware of everything happening and remains actively involved in peoples’ lives (33-point difference)
• Believing that the Bible is the most reliable source of absolute moral truth (32-point gap)
• Believing that the most important indicator of personal success in life is one’s commitment and obedience to God (31-point difference)
• Believing that success is best indicated by commitment and obedience to God (31-point difference)
• Firmly asserting that their religious faith is very important to them (31-point gap)
• Contending that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging (30-point difference)
• Saying it is very important to be engaged in developing a deeper relationship with God (27-point difference)
• Saying it is very important to increase their personal understanding of God’s ways, as described in the Bible (27-point gap)

With these results, is it any wonder that Democrats and Republicans are not only unwilling to work together, but are unable to find a way to work together? It’s like the proverbial glass half full of water. Conservatives see the glass as half full and liberals see the glass as half empty and you’ll never get either side to switch views. This explains why several years ago, then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) refused to even read 11 of the 12 jobs bills sent to the Senate by the GOP led House.

As the report stated:

“The ACFI survey revealed that the link between ideology and beliefs helps explain the recent election results. ‘Election surveys have pointed out how significant people’s candidate preference in the presidential race was to their hopes for the future,’ said Barna. ‘In that light, the Worldview Measurement Project surveys demonstrate the power of worldview, even in elections. Among all adults, those with a biblical worldview were more likely to vote than were those who did not. That is because a biblical worldview informs people that participating in the direction and leadership of society is a personal duty. Further, among voters who have a biblical worldview, 68% voted for Donald Trump and 27% voted for Hillary Clinton. Their primary motivation had to do with restoring traditional moral values. Among voters who do not have a biblical worldview, Mrs. Clinton held a 47% to 44% edge. She was the preference of those without a biblical worldview primarily in the hope of adopting more postmodern values’.”

It also explains why so many liberals are up in arms over everything President Donald Trump says and does. It often has nothing to do with what he actually does or says, but has everything to do with the irreconcilable differences between the two political factions, and until something breaks this deeply divided feud, nothing will ever be accomplished without major turmoil, bickering and lawsuits.