Question I'm trying to figure out whether I'm conservative, liberal, or something else. I read in Wikipedia.org that classical conservatism is not ideological, but is concerned more with the process (the means) than the end. Can you tell me what is meant by "ideological"? Is it being "ideological" to believe that capital punishment should be outlawed?
Answer There are conservatives, liberals, libertarians, and communitarians.
The main differnce is how much each is willing to use the government/force, AND for what reasons they would use it.
Communitarians want to use the government for almost everything. Libertarians want to use the government for almost nothing.
Liberals and Conservatives believe the government should act, but in different circumstances.
Generally speaking, Liberals believe that government should be used to foster freedom over order, and equality over freedom (i.e. your decision to have an abortion is a "freedom over order" decision, while affirmative action is an "equality over freedom issue). In each case, the Liberal allows the curtailing of some activity, or freedom, in order to achieve what it sees as a more perfect society.
The Conservative will allow the use of government/force in favor of "order over freedom" (pornography laws), and "freedom over equality" (hiring quotas based on race or gender). In each case, the Conservative allows government to curtail someone's freedom, order, equality, etc. in pursuit of what IT sees as the more perfect society.
"Idealogy" is the belief system that ones uses to determine what is important/right/moral/of value in a society.
The answer to your specific question is yes, it is "ideaological" to oppose ALL capital punishment based on your value system. In this case, you would be choosing equality over order because of your belief system (whatever that system happens to be).
