It started with a simple response to a less than charitable tweet, but it turned into a revelation of just how dark even politically conservative-minded persons can be. It is a bit of a rare thing to find a celebrity that holds a conservative political stance, mostly because Hollywood unashamedly blacklists them for not towing the liberal line. So when I stumble across one, I will occasionally give them a follow on Twitter. Such was the case with Kristy Swanson, the actress best known for the comedic movie role of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (not to be confused with the television series character played by Sarah Michelle Geller). Ms. Swanson proves to be rather direct, blunt, and even confrontational in her pro-conservative values tweets. In fact, there are times I somewhat cringe at her language. However, she has been somewhat entertaining to follow, so I left her in my news feed.

On December 17, 2018, Ms. Swanson posted a meme involving a Christmas tree. Her statement was “just gonna nicely set this down right here…” The meme read, “if the offends you GO **** YOURSELF” (only there were no asterisks, I’ll not fill in the foul word that was posted). I confess, it shocked me. It wasn’t that Ms. Swanson was a rather brash conservative, I’d already seen more than enough evidence of that. It was the fact that, if a person found Christmas celebrations and decorations to be offensive, she felt entirely justified in telling that person, in the foulest language imaginable, to buzz off. She said this regarding Christmas. The season that, at least ostensibly, is supposed to be about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Savior. The One who died to take the penalty for sinners that they may be made righteous. The One whom we are commanded to tell the world about that they might bow the knee in repentance and faith because of the great love He demonstrated by dying for sinners. That celebration. And she told them to fornicate themselves for not liking it. Now that is hubris.

I left a simple response for Ms. Swanson. I simply suggested that she consider that she was not likely to win anyone to her argument by treating them so disrespectfully. I never considered I would get a response from her. I would not expect a person with so many followers to have the time. I simply wanted her to stop and think about what she had done. That’s all. And, no she didn’t respond. But it was the other followers who did respond that got my attention. In fact, it is their posts that this article is about.

Several followers of Ms. Swanson took umbrage with my statement. One suggested that there was no way to win an argument with people who hate Christmas so much that they placed a statue of Satan next to a Christmas display (yes, that actually happened). Another claimed that you have to speak the same language as the liberal to even communicate to them. Yet another claimed that “silence is acceptance” and “we don’t want them to think we accept their ideology.” Finally, the one that really got my attention was the person who said “the time for being PC is OVER,” and that it was “time to fight fire with fire.” This is a person whose Twitter account appears to suggest they are at least a professing Christian. And they are supporting the idea that it is not only acceptable but appropriate to tell a person who is offended by Christmas to buzz off with vile and filthy language. This is also the person who later blocked my account for disagreeing with her and suggesting Christmas ought to be a time we share the miracle of the gospel with people. But I digress.

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