The Babylon Bee is a satire outlet — at least in theory. As time goes on, however, the Christian website is, quite literally, standing in the tradition of the biblical prophets by telling the future with uncanny precision.
On Monday evening, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon released a list of nearly 70 pieces of satire that he says have come true. “Jesters do oft prove prophets,” Dillon remarked, quoting from William Shakespeare’s King Lear.
Please enjoy this collection of Babylon Bee jokes that came true. https://t.co/Vw0Mj8Mgf8
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) May 24, 2022
“I don’t think we’re all that good at predicting the future,” Dillon told The Daily Wire. “I think we’re just bad at staying ahead of reality.”
What are some examples of The Babylon Bee’s fulfilled prophecies? In May 2017, the outlet published an article entitled ‘2 + 2 = 4,’ Insists Closed-Minded Bigot — a reference to “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell, in which loyalty to the novel’s totalitarian regime is believing the lie that “2 + 2 = 5.” In December 2021, USA Today covered a debate among math educators regarding purported racial bias in mathematics.
As time goes on, many of The Babylon Bee’s predictions are fulfilled days after they are publicized. In an article called Surviving Inflation: 9 Easy Ways To Save Money On Your Thanksgiving This Year, the outlet suggested that Americans should replace turkey with a can of Spam to avoid inflation-related costs. A mere ten days later, an NBC segment likewise argued that families should find turkey alternatives due to rising price levels.
Most recently, The Babylon Bee published an article entitled Disinformation Governance Board Determines All Criticism Of Disinformation Governance Board To Be Disinformation. Less than three weeks later, President Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board was indeed overcome by disinformation.
“The people working hardest to turn the world into a parody of itself should get most of the credit,” Dillon added. “They’re the reason our satire comes true.”
Last year, Babylon Bee editor-in-chief Kyle Mann and managing editor Joel Berry told The Daily Wire that their prophetic gift is rooted in “just thinking like a leftist.”
“What’s the most insane thing that these people could do right now? And that’s what’s going to happen in two weeks,” Berry observed.
“I think Democrats every morning just pull up The Babylon Bee, and that’s where they get their policy ideas,” Mann added.
Beyond the humor, the team behind The Babylon Bee does indeed draw its mission from their faith.
“Satirists deconstruct and mock things, and that’s part of our job. But as Christians, we’re trying to not just do that, but point people beyond that — to where the truth and where the hope is,” Berry said. “Looking back at the biblical prophets — people like Daniel, who lived their lives in exile in these foreign lands — it does lend some perspective, you know? As you see things seemingly crumbling all around you, nothing seems to be going well, you worry about the future, remember that perspective — that God is still on the throne.”
The Babylon Bee has also won some unlikely fans — including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The multibillionaire even consulted with Dillon before buying a substantial stake in Twitter — from which The Babylon Bee had recently been suspended.
“Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech,” Dillon reported. “He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.”