The Moral Case for Mockery | 5-Minute Videos

Bad ideas are everywhere, spreading like viruses. Ironically, the antidote is readily available. We just have to have the courage to use it. Seth Dillon, CEO of The Babylon Bee, provides the prescription.

#sethdillon #babylonbee #mockery #prageru

Script:

Bad ideas are everywhere…

Spreading like viruses…

Infecting every area of our lives…

And driving millions of otherwise rational people to embrace the irrational.

Here’s one obvious example. It illustrates a broader point I want to make about — of all things — the moral importance of mockery.

Ready for this?

We’re told by so-called experts with straight faces that men can become women and women can become men.

We’re told that sex is assigned at birth, rather than observed, as if doctors just make their best guess whenever they see a newborn baby.

We’re told men can become pregnant and “chestfeed.”

These aren’t fringe ideas promoted by radicals on Reddit. They’re mainstream, endorsed by once-respected medical organizations, highly-educated doctors, and popular internet wellness sites.

“Yes, it’s possible for men to become pregnant and give birth to children of their own… In order to explain, we’ll need to break down some common misconceptions about how we understand the term ‘man.’”

So the people who just told us men can get pregnant are going to clear up misconceptions for us? Hmm, I don’t think so.

It would be bad enough if these ideas were merely popular, but they’ve quickly gone from mainstream to mandatory.

You can’t criticize them.

You can’t even joke about them.

Comedians risk being canceled, and in some cases physically attacked, for doing so.

In a twisted way, this all kind of makes sense.

In order to prop up an insane worldview that can’t be defended, or even coherently articulated, you have to insulate it from criticism—especially the comedic kind that employs mockery to expose foolishness.

It’s embarrassing to be exposed as a fool.

So, it can’t be tolerated.

My team at the Babylon Bee learned this the hard way when we made a joke about Rachel Levine, a transgender health admiral in the Biden administration.

USA Today had named Rachel Levine as one of their “Women of the Year.” They were serious. But Rachel Levine is no more a woman than I am.

So, we fired back with this satirical headline: “The Babylon Bee's Man Of The Year Is Rachel Levine.”

The mockery, of course, was of USA Today — not the admiral.

Twitter — pre-Elon — was not amused. They locked our account for “hateful conduct.” “Delete the joke,” they said, “and you can have your account back.” We refused.

The intolerable truth you’re not allowed to speak is that Rachel Levine actually misgenders himself whenever he calls himself a woman. And pointing that out, no matter how it’s done, is not hateful conduct because the truth is not hate speech.

But this is how the system is rigged to safeguard bad ideas.

The leftists who dominate our media and culture are armed with both a sword and a shield. They can call anyone who differs with them a bigot, a transphobe, a Nazi. It doesn’t matter. They know, they’ll never get banned.

That’s the sword.

[NinjaKittyBonks]

Shame is a good thing, while bullying is not. Shame is what keeps society on it's toes to avoid most of the breakdown we see today!

[pdxnikki]

Psalm 2:4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord derides them.

Yep. God mocks the mockers of truth. 🤗🙏

[justineld]

I love using sarcasm and hyperbole to make a point about something. I'm very happy The Babylon Bee does the same. Seth is correct, we need more of the right type of mockery, not less.

[Supperconductor]

The Babylon Bee has made a mockery of the news! And so have the news organizations.

[ShaneWenzel]

Thank you for your mockery. The world is a better place because of it.

[TheRadioAteMyTV]

Mockery of a situation is very different than the mocker of a person or people.

[LivingCrusader]

The prophet Elijah mocked the priests of Baal.

[John_Q]

Always mock those who lie or believe in lies.

[walterdebnam]

Here is an example and something to consider. Sodom and Gomorrah became such an abomination not because every single person living there was doing what was abominable, but because they tolerated it, until it was acceptable everywhere. It's obvious from their conduct and refused to change it, but rather became aggressive in wrong ideas.

[smylesg]

Half of The Babylon Bee's headlines wind up as real mainstream media stories about six months later. They have the pulse of society.

[carladean]

Jesus said all who follow Him should expect not only mockery but persecution. I’m okay with that and will mock and defend Truth with every piece of armor God has given me. The Joy of the Lord is always my strength! Stop the attack on our children.. 🙏👆🏼🔥✝️🥳

[davidtagauri]

We live in the age where truth is a conspiracy theory.

[jcarp]

Anyone fighting harder to keep a transgender person out of a restroom then to keep the gun out of the hands of the next school shooter should be mocked.

[connorcarson]

To the shameless, only shame itself is shameful.

[robpfeifferiv]

Fantastic. Mock the ideas not the person.

[blakepace]

Well said, Seth!
TIJ (Truth In Jest) Forever!

[christinebravomom]

"1984" was not supposed to be an instruction manual.

[oddish]

Blocking ANY free expression of opinion, whether mocking or serious, in the interest of "stopping hate speech"... THAT is what we need to worry about.

If you want to persuade me that men can be pregnant, I will be happy to discuss the matter with you. Without hatred, without mockery, and without judgment (Matt 7:1). But if you threaten me with harm of any sort for not accepting your propaganda without question or opposition, then you can expect severe opposition. I don't capitulate to bullies.

[mdainko]

I’ll add 1 point - the devil hates being mocked

[TomRolfson]

They've taken the bad ideas so far that people have died and are dying. So if you mock the ideas now, they take it to be an insult of the dead and the most cruel insult when it's nothing to do with them personally-they are simply an adjunct victim of the ideas not the mockery.