Twitter Watch: Blocked By Conservatives

Matt Barber

I try to be a respectful person on Twitter, or at least as respectful as the person or organization to whom I am tweeting. I try to refrain from name-calling. I try to refrain from cursing. I do not harass. I do not threaten. I try to be as kind as possible in my disagreements with others. That said, when someone makes a statement with which I disagree or says something which is hateful, ignorant, or factually incorrect, I have little no problem pointing this out, making my opinion known, , or giving the actual facts pointing out how and why the other person is wrong or misguided. It has become apparent, however, that some people can not even take civil disagreement.

Rick Santorum

Several conservative, especially socially conservative, people on Twitter have blocked me...at least I only know of a few. The irony is that I have been more civil to these folks than they probably deserve. Most of these folks who have blocked me have said some incredibly hateful, hurtful, and false things about entire swaths of society. They call gay people seeking equal protections under the law "homofascists." They say that liberals are Godless heathens who are trying to destroy America specifically and society as a whole. The say the Boy Scouts should have Jerry Sandusky (a convicted pedophile) as their poster boy merely because the Scouts are considering relaxation of a long-standing anti-gay policy, thus implying that most/all gay people are pedophiles. The list, unfortunately goes on and on and on. Not to be immodest, but given the stones that these people are implicitly throwing my way, my responses have been relatively saintly.

Bryan Fischer

Some people simply do not like dissent, no matter how respectful it is, no matter how measured it is, and no matter how true it is. They would rather throw out their insults free from critical voices and only hearing from those who agree with them. Hearing dissent, especially truthful dissent, is how we learn and grow. These conservatives blocking such voices, however, goes to show how small some are willing to remain.

THE LIST SO FAR:
-Rick Santorum: Former Pennsylvania Senator, former GOP Presidential candidate

-Matt Barber: Liberty Counsel (a designated hate group)

-Bryan Fischer: President of the so-called American Family Association (a designated hate group)
-Chris Barron: Co-founder of the conservative gay group GOProud

Chris Barron