Liberty of Conscience

I have seen this phrase thrown around quite a bit, in both Baptist and Presbyterian circles of which I have been a part of.

In some instances this phrase was invoked as a "leave me alone" when it came to teachings or certain practices in ecclesiastically and personally.

In other instances this phrase was ignored and "left alone" when it came to impositions of rules or standards a church or organization imposed on an individuals personal life.

Here is the Westminster Confession of Faith's take on it:
2. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing, contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship. So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience: and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.

3. They who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, do practise any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty, which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.

4. And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God. And, for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the Church, they may lawfully be called to account

The London Baptist Confession has nearly identical wording.

I have a question
How far do we take Liberty, or Freedom of Conscience?

Reason being, if we have freedom of conscience, when is the appropriate time to step in when people invoke this "right"?

I am not speaking of something that is outright sinful, or forbidden in Scripture, but maybe a certain person teaches a doctrine that is sort of "stretching" the bounds of exetegical reason, and we kindy confront them about it and they invoke their freedom of conscience. Or suppose it comes to something as common as music preference, or even how long/short someone's shorts are.

How far do we take it?
How far do we allow it?

I posed this question to some friends on a message board and basically was met with an extremely keen observation that things are "ingrained" into the life of the American Church.

That is extremely insightful. We have relied so heavily on the experiences of the past 150 years in American Christianity that we have ignored what we say we believe in this area.
Sometimes the recent past is considered the 'way we've always done it' and not a thought is given to comparing practice to Scripture, or what we say we stand for in confessions.

I am not just writing this as a rant against the American Church's treatment of alcohol, which is only based on 120 years of tradition or so, but something deeper that touches us everyday.

If we claim to uphold liberty of conscience then that should effect how we treat those who do not agree with us, whether we are the ones invoking that liberty while someone else is looking down upon us, or vice versa.