Benjamin Carlson

Catholic | Theology Teacher | Former History Teacher | Pizza Enthusiast | Aspiring NHL Enforcer

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@the_americangrl @Homeschool_LLC Most are oblivious, or they do the old "but not MY school" routine. Public education has such a cultural grip on 90% of people that they'll reject direct evidence of rot out of hand even when it's right in front of them.

[Intrepid Education @Intrepid_Edu]

I will go further: compulsory schooling has done more harm than good. Most people do not need to be in school until the age of 18. With a proper education that actually satisfies the potential of the young mind, most people would only need an education that lasts through what we might call middle school.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@Intrepid_Edu Anyone can homeschool! We've all been brainwashed to think teachers are "experts," kids need 8+ hours of instruction a day, etc. It's all nonsense. Read good books out loud to your kids, have them do puzzles, cultivate their curiosity, and they'll be BETTER OFF than at school.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@theblessedsalt I agree with your conclusion, but the reason for it has less to do with the platform (which is definitely flawed) and more to do with the fact that only 1/25 or so folks who post are actually interested in any kind of meaningful discussion.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@LoriAnnArt @CandlesWitness @Trent_Horn @BaptistBen316 This is incoherent. We all "judge" actions good or evil so that we can do the former and avoid the latter. You hardly need to "try" arson to know that it's wrong.

[Kyle Whittington @CatholicKyle]

@owenthcarey Afterlife for animals

I used to believe that animal souls were annihilated upon death until I realized that this precludes the possibility of cats going to hell

[Romi Bean @Romi_Bean]

This Frenchman describing Buc-ee’s is the only thing you need today

(IG: Erosbrousson)

[Larry Chapp @LarryChappGS22]

I don’t know anything about Msgr. Stephen Rossetti. But I do know that Cardinal McElroy’s stated reason for suppressing Msgr. Rossetti’s exorcism ministry seems both hypocritical and absurd. It is absurd because there is no clear Catholic teaching on whether UFO’s might be manifestations of the demonic. So Cardinal McElroy — unless I am misunderstanding him — is just inventing something out of whole cloth here.

Which argues for there being a deeper reason for this action which, for reasons known only to the Cardinal, he does not want to divulge. I suspect that reason is that McElroy simply does not want a high profile, conservative, celebrity exorcist in his diocese.

If that is the real reason, and I suspect it is, I think the Cardinal could have made a better case for this action by appealing to this reason explicitly instead of inventing the absurd idea that believing UFO’s might be demonic is contrary to some mythical church teaching.

This is especially true since to claim this action is being taken because Rossetti dissents from Church teaching is monumentally hypocritical coming from a prelate who openly dissents from a very real set of Church teachings on human sexuality.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@thesanityrevolt Eh, I have to imagine most pro-lifers aren't even running the tests. I've got four kids and we never did. The people who test for DS and other genetic abnormalities are, I'm guessing, way more likely to be predisposed to abort in these cases.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@JamieHendermom @HansFiene Same story here. Four kids, never tested because it wouldn't change anything for us.

[𝐄𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚 @EudaimoniaEsq]

A lot of people in the anti-abortion camp are criticizing this post. And I get it. I’m not countering them. But one thing I haven’t seen anyone say, at least not explicitly, is how little epistemic humility this guy, and people like him, have. And this complete lack of epistemic humility results in them playing God and making inapt comparison—comparisons they cannot possibly make because they cannot rightly evaluate the two alternatives.

This man and his wife were informed that their child would have a series of medical difficulties, both physical and mental. We know that about Down Syndrome. We know that by almost any metric this is a “harder” life than someone without any such condition. But these people turn around and say “and, thus, it would be better for the child if the child actually just died now.”

But they can’t know that. They can’t actually compare existence with Down Syndrome to non-existence/death, because they don’t know what the latter entails. In order to rightly and ably compare two things, you have to know enough about them. We don’t know enough about death to ably compare it to life—even life with difficulties. So one cannot truly and reasonably say “death is better than living with Down Syndrome.”

It would be like me asking “do you prefer to eat apples or smoogaboogaloogas?” Of course, you don’t know what a smoogaboogalooga is, so you would reply “uh, I don’t know what that is, so I can’t compare it to an apple.” That’s epistemic humility. This guy and his wife have none of that, because they decided that death (which they cannot understand and appreciate) is better than life.

But even now I’m being charitable. I’m assuming a lack of epistemic humility when in reality they weren’t deciding what was “best” for the child (death vs. life). They were deciding what was best for themselves. And they decided killing their child was best for themselves.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

"Don't let [people] stop you from sharing your truth."

There's only *one* truth, by definition, and a 21-week-old baby, in utero or out, is a living human being. This guy and his wife were propagandized into murdering their own child. *That's* the truth.
https://t.co/56hnCVm0Ny

[Jesse Ridgway @McJuggerNuggets]

I’ve never seen such hate and vitriol for two people grieving the loss of their unborn child and making an impossible decision.

The last 24 hours have exposed a side of humanity that is deeply disturbing. Being called “murderous pieces of shit, evil, compared to Hitler” and receiving NON-STOP DEATH THREATS.

Seeing my 6-year old dog with Stage 4 Kidney Disease be used as a weapon, manipulating my words and intent in a tweet or saying we’ll regret this decision forever and must repent to God is absolute insanity.

If you ever wanted to marvel at the depravity of people online, just check the replies on my latest tweet. It’s a shit-show of epic proportions. This is reflective of the current world and landscape we’re all living in.

What’s more troubling is a lot of these people use God or Jesus as their justification for threatening us and wanting to cast us into Hell…seems pretty hypocritical.

So many saying they would’ve kept the child, put it up for adoption or are suddenly ready to adopt a down syndrome child, that’s great! You can do all those things. However, many of the people throwing stones don’t even have children, let alone one with a condition and most likely will never do the things they say they’re going to do.

There has been some heinous shit said about my wife and I on some extremely large accounts…It baffles me that there are such trashy-ass people who have significant followings. If you can’t contribute anything meaningful to the conversation aside from insults then just don’t post.

On the other hand, there has been tremendous stories of people who kept their Down Syndrome baby and that’s awesome! Very courageous and they do look very happy! That is your choice and I support it. This was ours and we can do that. It’s very easy to accept the differences between us when it has no actual bearing on your life.

What shocked me most of all was that this story has become mainstream news…A couple’s abortion is suddenly newsworthy in 2026…?

There are over 1,000,000 abortions every single year for a myriad of reasons, this is happening on a DAILY BASIS and is the most common outcome for Trisomy 21, yet this one blows up and people are surprised…?

The reason this blew up is quite simple: IT’S BECAUSE NOBODY TALKS ABOUT IT.

I can’t blame people for not talking about these vulnerable experiences publicly because you see the disgusting backlash that ensues. It’s very divisive. Luckily, after 20 years on the Internet, this is par the course for me taking on the crazies, so I’m glad I can help further the conversation.

That’s exactly why I wanted to share this story. People still need to see vulnerability and hear the raw truth. There is real suffering going on and it is being done in silence and fear.

So many mothers have reached out privately commending us on our bravery to speak truthfully about this topic and we really appreciate that support! We want you to feel less alone in this and less ashamed.

There has never been a more important time to speak up and out about the things that matter. Do not let the vocal minority stop you from sharing your truth.

To those who have been affected by this or are confronted with a similar situation in the future, we have your back and please feel free to reach out. I’m sure this will follow us awhile especially when we try for a kid again in the near future.

(CONTINUED)

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@OVTweetmarck @NewYearsDani @XBrittanyDukeX Amen, brother.

[The Redheaded libertarian @TRHLofficial]

@martianwyrdlord “It”.

Opinion discarded.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@HellenicVibes @CountdeC56415 @plainstriumph "We don't know when ensoulment occurs therefore abortion is licit" is completely backward reasoning. If we don't know when ensoulment occurs it logically follows that we ought *never* to abort out of caution since it's *possible* that we're murdering ensouled children.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@MulletVBabylon @lisavsworld @Ruesavatar The OP is not presenting the chart as "definitive Catholic teaching." If you look at his follow-up posts he further clarifies what he's about. Intercourse on your wedding night is not forbidden nor is it sinful.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@Lu531Lu @catholicpat How many of those who dropped out were attending Sunday Mass regularly and participating in parish life before the change? My friend's calculation is that we're losing 75% of them anyway, so we might as well do it right.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@ScotIrish12 @catholicpat The stats bear this out as well. Too many families just continue to do the "cultural Catholic" routine even when parishes offer all the best stuff. We need to evangelize adults who will then embrace their responsibility as the primary educator of their children.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@ScotIrish12 @catholicpat All of that is obviously better than rote classroom "catechesis," especially at a young age, but none of it compensates for indifferent parents. My experience is that at our *absolute best* we can win back a small minority, but 85% go the way of their parents for better or worse.

[Benjamin Carlson @BossmanBDC]

@ScotIrish12 @catholicpat I think many people are nervous about the optics of losing 75% of the confirmands/first communicants/etc if we put more of the onus on families, but my priest friend concluded we're losing them anyway so decided to just bite the bullet.