The Babylon Bee

Political and cultural satire, when done really well, is a rare commodity, in any media. Online, satire and parody are often reduced to mean-spirited snarkiness and trolling, but this is not always the case. In 1997, online readers were delighted to find "The Onion," a site that satirized everything from national politics to the neighborhood problems and characters with which we're all familiar. Unfortunately, over the years, "The Onion" lost its way, and became excessively leftist: where once it lampooned everyone from Bill Clinton to the Tea Party, it was now merely a vehicle for the "progressive" left. No worries: it was replaced — or, rather, rendered irrelevant — by the sudden emergence, and immediate popularity, of "The Babylon Bee," a satirical website created and operated by Christians — which satirizes everyone, Christians foremost. Borrowing part of its name from the venerable "Sacramento Bee" newspaper, "The Babylon Bee" has surpassed "The Onion" in terms of both quality and genuine wit. Of course we can't speak for the dead, but if Mark Twain or Will Rogers were around in the Internet age, the "Bee" would doubtless be one of their favorite sites. That old cynic H. L. Mencken would be perfectly in his element lampooning the Christian homemakers who peddle "essential oils." The "Bee" spares no one.

Beginning online publication in 2016, the "Bee" has been utterly relentless in its satirical treatment of such figures as Donald Trump, Marcia Blackburn, and Ron DeSantis, and especially the Christians who support them. "Progressives," in and out of the church, will laugh; but their laughter may taper off when they read the articles satirizing Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and (this is rich) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On the religious side (because this is, after all, a Christian site), fundamentalists who cling to the King James Bible (like me) are skewered, but so are "Truly Reformed" Presbyterians and Anglicans, who see everything in the light of John Calvin. But the "Bee" reserves its most withering satire for such personalities and places as Joel Osteen or the "contemporary" church down the block, with its strobe lights and hyper-amplified "praise bands."

"The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness" is essentially an anthology of satire of the far left, and of the neo-liberal zeitgeist, but is entirely original: it is not a collection of pieces from the website, but is all new material. Most of it is very, very funny; some of it is a bit forced. The ability to write daily or weekly satire of news events does not always equal the ability to produce a satirical book with a single theme. If "The Babylon Bee," available on the Internet, is on-target and wildly amusing 98% of the time, the "Guide to Wokeness" is (while always original) less reliably funny. But this is a very mild criticism indeed.

A final note: Unlike some magazines, websites, and books that preceded it, "The Babylon Bee" is notable for not being mean-spirited. It is frequently cutting; it is never cruel. This is quite an accomplishment.

Somewhat recommended. As President Eisenhower famously said in a one-sentence book review: "People who enjoy this sort of thing will find this to be the sort of thing they enjoy."… (more)

The articles on the Babylon Bee website are biting, satirical and uniformly funny. It really is a highly targeted Onion and unlike the other imitators, this one is the equal. I bring that up in this book review because this book is more of a parody of a Christian self-help book than the satire of the site. Because it is different, it can be a little off-putting if one is expecting the same format as the website.

Judging it on its own merits, the book is highly successful at what it is trying to do, which is expose the perceived excesses of American Christianity. It is successful, but not particularly funny, humorous in places (particularly footnotes) but never funny. Perhaps for a topic that is ultimately very serious for the authors, being super jokey was not an option.

Definitely will not convince people who are not Christians, but it wasn't written for them. Should provide some convicting moments for those who are.… (more)