Dakota Beacon

“A little levity leavens the whole loaf.” Or so the saying goes. But is that scriptural? Not exactly. But it sounds good. (See I Corinthians 5:6.)

Transparently obvious to the public, progressives show little sense of humor when it comes to their pet issues. They simply cannot and will not tolerate criticism. Progressives go berserk under the barbs of satire. How dare anyone mock their cherished ideological treasures! Their sacred gems range from climate change to animal rights to DEI to government giveaways and much more.

Enter -- the Babylon Bee (https://babylonbee.com/), a conservative Christian satire website publishing “news” articles on contemporary topics including politics, public figures, and current events. It has been referred to as the conservative version of the left-of-center The Onion (https://www.theonion.com/).

To illustrate the liberal intolerance to mockery, in March of 2022 the Babylon Bee selected Rachel Levine as its first annual Man of the Year. At the time, Levine was the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He served proudly as the first man in that position to dress like a woman. Rachel's original name was Richard Levine, but he changed it to Rachel years earlier. That article was too much for liberal Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter. Their article promptly got the Babylon Bee banned from the messaging service!

The Babylon Bee not only pokes fun at liberals and progressives, but it also pokes fun at itself. Conservatives, Evangelicals, and other religious and social groups do not go unscathed. Their motto says it all: “Fake News You Can Use.” That should give the reader a fair warning. Nevertheless, some major media outlets have gone so far as to fact check the Bee’s stories!

Capitalizing on current events, the Babylon Bee recently presented an in-your-face burlesque irony in response to America’s “No King” protests. The following recent “news” story exhibits parody at its best with a takeoff on 1 Samuel 8:4-10.

Israelites Protest Prophet Samuel With 'Yes Kings' Rally

RAMAH — A large crowd of disgruntled people from multiple tribes marched publicly through the streets today, as mobs of angry Israelites protested the prophet Samuel with a "Yes Kings" rally.

Fed up with having autonomy and personal freedoms as long as they adhered to God's law, the descendants of Abraham angrily made their voices heard before the Lord's chosen representative to demand one all-powerful man to despotically rule over them.

"We don't want to live in freedom!" said one marching Benjamite. "We keep looking at all the other nations around us and the way they have a person bossing them around and living in opulent luxury while everyone else toils endlessly to funnel wealth to the royal family, and we wish that could be us. We don't want liberty, give us oppression!"

After being set free after hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, the people of Israel longed for the days of tyrannical rule and no individual liberties. "It's time to give someone unchecked power," said one man from the tribe of Zebulun who was waving a "Yes Kings" sign. "Who wants to be free and make their own choices anyway? Freedom is not for me. I'll take being ordered around and worked into the ground to enrich one unelected ruler any day."

At publishing time, large groups of Israelites had reportedly also made plans to hold protests in prominent villages throughout the land to collectively condemn God's strict immigration policies.

Progressives should know better than anyone else the effects of ridicule and satire. One of their own, Saul Alinksy, once codified ridicule in his Rules for Radicals. He encouraged the use of ridicule against one's opponents. Rule #5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.” Turn around is fair play. Time for liberals have a taste of their own medicine.

As liberals and progressives continue to occupy the public square, the Babylon Bee will never run short of grist for its mill. Folks seeking good clean fun in the form of satire should look at the Babylon Bee. If you like it, subscribe to it for free (although donations are always welcome).

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).