Liberalism its theory and practice

What is a liberal? What is the essence of liberalism? Is it merely an attitude of tolerance and a faith in critical inquiry? Or do this attitude and this faith presuppose certain beliefs regarding man's dignity and value? If so, what are these beliefs, and how may they be justified? Can liberalism ever become a powerful creative force in this country and throughout the world unless liberals can band together in a common faith? Yet how, if at all, is such a common faith possible in our half-secular, half-religious American society and in a world of many conflicting ultimate beliefs? How, finally, may liberalism be more effectively exemplified and implemented institutionally in this country-in government; in home, school, and church; and in business and industry?
These are some of the questions which this book attempts to answer. Their urgency was perhaps more obvious a year or two ago,
when our civil liberties were being flagrantly violated in many quarters and when few spoke out boldly in their defense. That dangerous wave of fanaticism has, fortunately, largely subsided. But who can tell when the next will arise? More important, what weakness in our body politic and our cultural ethos occasions such waves of overt un -American illiberalism? And what can we do now, before it is too late, to revitalize and strengthen our traditional love of freedom and our century-old hatred of all forms of tyranny? These are questions that must deeply concern all of us who cherish our heritage of freedom. They are at least as crucial today as they were yesterday and are likely to be tomorrow.