Transcript

Over the past two weeks, several prominent social media accounts have provoked hundreds, if not thousands, of people on the internet to attack my wife and accuse her of committing grave sins.

At first, I just ignored these attacks because I didn't want to dignify them or amplify this crazy behavior, but they've grown to such a level that I feel it necessary as Laura's husband to say something.

Look, if you wanna attack me, that's fine.

That comes with having a public channel.

But my wife retired from public social media life a year ago.

If you didn't like an argument that I made or a clip I showed of someone saying something ridiculous, then critique me.

Anyone else could have made the exact same arguments that I made, so attacking my wife does nothing to strengthen your argument.

Attacking her isn't even an ad hominem fallacy.

It's just petty.

And lying about my wife is a grave sin.

The catechism speaks of calumny as remarks contrary to the truth that harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret, insofar as possible, his neighbors' thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way.

But that's not what's been happening with a particular group of people attacking my family.

Look, I've done apologetics for over 20 years among atheists, Muslims, radical pro-abortion and LGBT activists, and none of them has been as cruel or vindictive as so-called based Christians or based Catholics.

The lie they're spreading about my wife is that she cheated on me or almost cheated on me or wanted to have an affair, which is an absolute lie they somehow bring out of an appearance that she had on Pints with Aquinas two years ago.

Over 100,000 people watched that interview and I didn't see any of them come to this conclusion, which shows the people slamming my wife are either ignorant, vile, or probably both.

Here's what my wife said in the context of the dangers of women working outside the home: I got super close to a male coworker and I share this testimony.

Trent and I used to do a marriage encounter weekend and I shared this testimony and I got too close to this coworker.

And you start, I wouldn't say developing feelings, and Trent knows all this stuff.

So right there, my wife says she did not develop romantic feelings for anyone.

Laura was close to this person because the company she worked for assigned this man to train her, so the two of them had to work together.

Laura just recognized it's imprudent to have a close friendship with someone like that, and she said on Pints that this is a reason it's often a bad idea for wives to work, even if it's not gravely sinful for wives to work.

This is a truth every married couple learns about, which is why we've publicly shared this story in other settings to help couples prepare for matrimony.

Laura continues: That's how affairs They happen very slowly.

It's not like you just have an affair with someone.

You get to know them.

You're attracted to their temperament.

They see the best side of you.

And Trent was very uncomfortable with it.

Anyone with basic reading comprehension skills can see my wife is not talking about herself having an affair.

She didn't say that at all.

My wife is just describing a typical friendship you'd have with a coworker and that if you're not careful, friendships can turn into something else, so you always have to be prudent.

And my wife came to see that this friendship could be imprudent.

She continues: I was like, 'Well, we're just friends.' But he's not a jealous person at all.

So Trent was like, 'You know, I'm just asking that you don't do anything that you wouldn't be comfortable with me doing with a woman.

Like you have that same standard.

If I was talking to a female coworker often and joking around with that person and they were, you know, getting to know me, would you be comfortable with me doing that?' And I, Laura, was like, 'Absolutely not.

I would burn her house down.' So I did have to set a standard, like I can't talk to you one-on-one anymore.

My wife then followed up on her own channel saying this: Almost a decade ago, I had a male coworker I had to tell to stop texting me.

That is literally all there was.

Was I ever alone with this man?

No.

Did I ever say or do anything inappropriate?

No.

As I said, over 100,000 people watched this interview over the past two years and they saw nothing scandalous in what my wife said.

People have come to me saying they heard these accusations about Laura and then checked the original interview on Pints, which you can also go and watch, and they were astounded at the accusations being shared.

These included people saying my wife fell in love with someone else or she fell in love with a part of them, which she never said, she fantasized about other people, wanted to have an affair, and some people saying she did commit adultery.

All of those statements are grave lies and people who say them should repent and go to confession for the good of their soul.

My wife gave a beautiful witness to recognizing that even if nothing bad is happening in a situation right now, it can still be imprudent and that's why she laid down a healthy boundary.

I've done the same thing as a husband and every married couple sees the need to do this at some point in marriage.

Also, these same people going after Laura have attacked the wives of other Christians who criticize them, so I'm not an isolated case.

However, Laura and I do not hate the people who said these awful things.

Instead, we just feel really great sadness for them.

Living behind a keyboard, always trying to own other people, isn't gonna make you happy or fulfilled.

You won't regret showing other people, even showing people who hate you, the fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If you've been a victim of calumny, my advice based on this experience is to give the anger you feel at being victimized over to God.

First Peter 5:7 says, Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.

And take comfort in these words of Christ: Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

It's also fitting that we're near Holy Week, because our Lord was the victim of people twisting his words to accuse him of crimes he didn't commit.

Mark 14:57-58 says, Some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 'We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'But Jesus actually said in John 2:19, Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.

Jesus never said He would destroy the Jerusalem Temple or even the temple of His own body, which is what He was referring to.

Instead, the people who hated Jesus wanted to hear the worst thing possible to justify abusing Him.

When Jesus was reviled and mocked, He didn't lash out in anger.

Instead, He prayed, Father, forgive them.

They know not what they do.

Once again, if you wanna attack me because I was in some of my wife's lighthearted videos on her channel, fine.

But don't attack her.

I like being married to someone fun, because it's a nice break from being an otherwise serious person.

I'm also proud of how my wife's channel helped many people find joy in their faith through the gift of her humor.

In fact, Laura was the only girl I dated who could make me burst out laughing, which is how I knew she was the girl I had to marry.

Some people also asked if I'd be willing to debate one of the instigators behind this virtual dog pile, and here's my answer.

I'm not going to sit down and have a chat with someone who claims to be Catholic but also viciously mocked my wife, accused her of wanting to have an affair, and called my wife a crazy bitch.

I've debated morally degenerate people, but none of them have ever attacked my family.

So, no.

Debating such a person would be a colossal waste of my time, and it would be a waste of anyone else's time to watch such an engagement.

Some nonsense doesn't deserve to be debated.

It only deserves to be refuted.

Ephesians 5:10-11 says, Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

I'm much more interested in my upcoming content on Protestantism, defending the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and other widely discussed moral issues.

I'm also excited to host dialogues with people who believe in mature, genuine exchanges and don't resort to troll tactics.

Finally, when life throws a curveball at me, I often think about what our Lord promised.

He said, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

This isn't just rest from physical work.

It's rest from all the weariness and evils of this life.

When people mercilessly attack you, it's easy to obsess over it and lose your peace.

But when you keep your focus squarely on Christ and His mercy, a mercy I certainly don't deserve, it supernaturally quiets your soul.

As we near the end of Lent, I would encourage you to meditate on the mercy of Christ and rest in His peace, which is a foretaste of the unending peace that we will have with Christ in the future glory.

Thank you all so much, and I hope you have a very blessed day.