On The Babylon Bee

I have a complicated relationship with the Babylon Bee.

In some ways, we are on the same corner. We both write humor for an audience that is Christian or Christian-adjacent. Our targets are often the same.

And on occasion, we step on each other’s toes.

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In 2016, I wrote a satire piece called The Christian Swimsuit Edition, complete with pictures of my wife posing in a jean skirt.

A couple of years later, the BB did this:

The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Features First-Ever Baptist Model In Floor-Length Denim Skirt

babylonbee.comSports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Features First-Ever Baptist Model In Floor-Length Denim SkirtNEW YORK, NY—In a controversial move, Sports Illustrated has unveiled photos of its first ever Baptist swimsuit model, pictured in a floor-length denim skirt, modest collared blouse, and no makeup or jewelry whatsoever, other than her purity ring.

In 2019, I suppose in response to something Alex Jones was up to, I tweeted the following joke:

matthew pierce @MatthewEPierce

one thing i like to say when other christians try to minister to me is AM I BEING DETAINED

Some time after this, I got a tip that the BB had copied my joke. So, I looked. Turns out, they did tweet something extremely similar. In 2017, two years before I did. Whoops.

The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee

Libertarian Screams “Am I Being Detained?!” At Everyone Who Shakes His Hand During Church Greeting Time babylonbee.com/news/libertari…

Christian culture can be a small pond; when something disturbs the surface, we all feel the ripples. It is not uncommon for the jokesters of Christian Twitter to arrive at a similar punchline. I suppose it will happen to me again one day.

Anyway, I drove you around that loop to return to the beginning: my relationship with the BB is complicated. I do not find them particularly funny, but at the same time, I want them to succeed. Laughter is one of the most important gifts God gave us. We need more comedy, not less.

In any case, I can’t seem to get away from the BB. Sometimes, when people enjoy a BB post, they tag me and ask if I’ve seen it. Other times, when someone is angry at the BB, they tag me in a post and tell their followers to read me instead.

So, since I can’t ignore them, I’d like to give an honest attempt at understanding both the appeal and the criticisms of the BB.

Understanding the appeal

Up front, let’s affirm that many people genuinely think that the BB is funny. I’m not here to criticize them. Republicans need to laugh, too. But in the macro, I think the appetite for the BB came from a generation of conservative Christians who had long felt mocked by culture.

The idea of Christians being persecuted in America may seem like a trope, especially as the church wrestles with the issue of Christian nationalism. But there can be truth in both places at once: we can have interplay of faith and policy at the highest levels of government, at the same time that Christians are ridiculed by the media and entertainment.

When the internet and social media leveled the gatekeepers and unleashed waves of new content creators, the residue of entertainment persecution (real or imagined) still coated the church. As Christians wandered across the landscape of this new culture, we felt no need to sample what the Other Side was doing—we had seen enough of that already. We needed to build our own things. We set to work upon our new Babels, and soon we had Fox News, GodTube, PureFlix, and the BB. And they were ours.

When Christians flood the BB home page, is it that much different than Christians loyally filing into Chick-fil-A, or Hobby Lobby? There is a certain comfort in having a side. Especially if you feel like everyone is against you.

Understanding the criticism