Liberal or Conservative: Is there a difference really?

Where is the line drawn between the two and why there is a line necessary? Why is it that someone like me who supports freedom equally for all must be labeled?

I truly hate labels, for many years I was a rabid "Christian" and was able to convince myself that what I was doing was right, the late night prayer meetings, and twice a day on Sunday once on Wednesday meetings. I drove hours one very just to listen to another person explain another somewhat different section of the bible. I heard sermons from many pastors and attended churches ranging from hard core Charismatic Pentecostal all the way up too Calvinistic Baptist churches. I have sat through hours of "prayer wars" and hours of multiple pastors going on and on about things that I honestly do not think they even know. Of course, there is the me now, somewhat different and not nearly as rabid as I once was.

I am still very strongly grounded in my beliefs in the equality of freedoms and the preservation of the Constitution. However, I am no longer rabidly religious. In fact, I am not religious at all and after changing over a long period, I found that it was the religion and religious experiences themselves that contributed the most to my being able to live where I am now. It was the last "Church" I attended, as a member and its pastor that helped me become who I am today. Without his guidance in my continual quest for knowledge and the wonderful doors, he helped me see still existed I would still be stuck chanting mantras and praising "Jesus" daily versus researching, and learning the actual history attached to all of this.

I have been told that my fascination with history is just plain odd and that history cannot help us now, yes, I have been told this. Obviously, we know this is not true. History is the only true method of divining the future. Our futures are closely intertwined with our histories and to have knowledge of both we must be able to lay down our religious differences, beliefs, and rabid ideals. I have taken to the study of American history, our foundations, Founding Fathers, ideals, and above all the very basis of our country FREEDOM!

Over the years of studying this, I have found that the terms "liberal" and "conservative" rarely mean anything truly different. Modern America has taken to referring to Democrats as "liberals" and Republicans as "conservatives" they have polarized some factions of those parties on what are known as "party lines." The funny thing is that in many areas people are Republican and support "liberal" philosophies, or people are Democratic and support "conservative" philosophies. Worse, the politicians themselves rarely are fundamentally different from their "opponents." Look to voting records and than you tell me, or better yet look to history when the Republican Party was the "socially Liberal" party and the Democratic Party was the "traditionally secure" party.

So when someone calls me a "liberal/ libtard etc" or a "conservie/ conservative etc" I tend to dismiss them as uneducated. Anyone at this point who still strongly supports their party based on what they feel is correct or what they have heard to be right deserves the presidents they have received and the changes they are seeing. There is no real difference between the two parties any longer, the major players from both sides vote the same, dress the same and attend all the same parties. So am I a liberal or a conservative?

If you have an answer to that question than you are less intelligent than I originally figured...