I continue to be amazed at what people will argue about.
Dropping crabs into a pot of boiling water is the traditional way of cooking them. I'm not sure the crabs care if they are air fried instead, but here we are in the Year of Our Lord 2025 fighting about it:
My favorite exchange was this one:
Imagine thinking the gas exchange happening in the crab's shell is a "scream" 😂
(Crabs don't have vocal cords, y'all.)
Local outlet WUSA9 even picked up the controversy caused by this Maryland woman named Chels.
The video has since racked up hundreds of thousands of views, with debates raging in the comments about ethics, culinary practices and TikTok's content moderation.
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are indeed sentient marine animals, found abundantly throughout the Chesapeake Bay and U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These crabs use their paddle-shaped legs to swim and are bottom-dwellers, residing in habitats ranging from mud flats to seagrass beds. We reached out to a Maryland DNR spokesperson to see if they have a comment on the viral video.
A journalist was paid to reach out to a government spokesman to comment on ... a TikTok video!
While blue crabs are a cherished delicacy, often steamed with Old Bay and served with melted butter and corn on the cob...
...the standard practice involves first stunning or killing the crab before cooking. Boiling or air frying them alive is not only widely viewed as inhumane, but may also be considered animal cruelty in certain jurisdictions.
Therein lies the question: Why should someone be humane? You can't just say "because animals feel pain too" or "it's the right thing to do." Animals have no concern for how they kill their prey. Why should humans be different?
See, I agree that it is morally good to stun or kill your dinner, but that is because I follow ancient biblical teachings about respecting the animals I eat (here, here, here, here, and here for starters).
I think the reason people are arguing about these crabs is simple. A bunch of clowns have spent the last 100 years removing biblical morality from society but still want everyone to be kind. As C.S. Lewis said, "In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function."
Because of that, crabs are today's proxy topic for the serious issues we want to discuss but can't due to our lack of shared moral foundation.
Perhaps we should hypnotize the crabs instead?👇
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
