At its core, the left-right divide all comes down to the most basic principles.
Left = Plato. Anti-Christian. Anti-family. Imperialist.
Right = Aristotle. Christian. Pro-family. Nationalist.
This heuristic will allow you to quickly and easily categorize any ideology correctly and cut your way through even the most determined fog of nebulous redefinitions attempting to ideologically mischaracterize a person, a party, or a movement.
Anyone who is against Christianity is necessarily against the West, also known as Christendom. Remember that the concept of ideology is, in itself, an intrinsically Western concept.
UPDATE: based on my personal observations, you could reasonably add a fifth element to the heuristic.
Left = Redefinitions, complications, explanations, interpretations, penumbras, emanations, and appeals to authority, credentials, and the sacred spirit of Science.
Right = Truth