The following read pretty much details how the far-left progressives have long hijacked the word "liberal", and how the hardline social conservatives misuse that word nowadays, and how the word "libertarian" came to be. By definition, someone who holds liberal views believe people should have the freedom in deciding how to think and live their own lives. That would entail being tolerant of all viewpoints, open-minded, and permissive. Forcing anyone into supporting or participating in something they may not want to partake in by using laws (and consequently punish if laws are not obeyed) is the direct opposite of what it means to be liberal.

Lastly, none of what I just mentioned is mere opinion, it's reality, and I went by textbook definition(s) to arrive to my conclusion on what it means to be liberal. While progressives and conservatives do have different goals and agendas, their overall mentality is eerily similar when it comes to enforcing unjust laws on the citizens and how they have no qualms in using both State and Federal powers to help push-through their agendas. It's also worth pointing out that over the years progressives and conservatives have worked together in order to limit the individual choices citizens could make while helping to undermine certain individual rights as well. Supporting laws severely restricting access to or all out bans on things like alcohol/recreational drugs/private firearm ownership/and freedom of expression are a few examples of when progressives had forged alliances with conservative types in order to get their agendas passed. It's no surprise that during the height of the progressive movement it was a rather unpleasant time for racial minorities.

To save the world, fight for liberalism-
[cato.org]

"Now we have Democrats moving left in all the wrong ways—far more spending than even the Obama administration, openly socialist officials, and aggressive efforts to restrict free speech in the name of fighting “hate speech.” Meanwhile, Republicans are moving to the wrong kind of right—a culture war pitting Americans against Americans and a new willingness to use state power to hurt their opponents, including private businesses."