(OPINION) Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon warned a northern Virginia megachurch that modern American society is attacking truth and comedy in ways that threaten the freedom of speech. The head of the popular Christian satire site gave a Monday lecture at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg. He listed ways society is attacking comedy and biblical truth through censorship.
“We’re living in crazy times, unusually crazy times, actually outrageous times where absurdity is everywhere,” Dillon began. “Truth is under attack. Reason is under attack.”
“Comedy is under attack. And you can’t speak up and try to defend any of these things, or they try to suppress your voice and silence you. Freedom of speech is under attack.” Dillon said the world is “increasingly becoming more and more difficult” for Christians to speak “the truth boldly in the public square.”
One example, according to Dillon, was when churches in the United States could not gather to meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, but casinos, bars and strip clubs remained open.
“COVID really drew out the insanity and somehow it’s not behind us yet at this point,” Dillon said, citing a 2021 study that found students at Stanford University will more likely to wear facemasks while riding a bicycle than helmets.
“It wasn’t long ago [when] we were told men were not allowed to have an opinion on abortion. You know what we’re told now? Men can get pregnant,” he continued. Dillon cited the example of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, during her confirmation hearing, was asked to define the word “woman” and responded, “No, I can’t … I’m not a biologist.”
“Now, I see what looks like a lot of women here tonight. I think,” Dillon continued as the audience erupted in laughter. “Or at least some of you were assigned female at birth. The doctor made his best guess, and you just went with it.”
“This is nuts. Men are dominating women’s sports. Does anybody have a problem with that?” he added as the crowd cheered and clapped. “Men are being named woman of the year.” Dillon noted that certain world events are occurring today that make him “angry.” He said these particular attacks on truth should not be considered funny.
“Drag shows for kids are everywhere, and if you call it grooming, you’ll get banned permanently on all of the major social platforms. It kind of makes me angry. I have two young kids,” Dillon expressed. “I don’t even want to laugh at that one. … The truth is under attack in all of these examples.” READ MORE
