The Babylon Bee is again at the center of controversy with a satirical news article that some Christian leaders are denouncing for anti-Asian racism.
The headline, placed above an image of Dr. Anthony Fauci with a “Fu Manchu” style goatee, wearing a conical hat, and standing in a rice field, reads, “China Introduces New Head Of COVID Policy Dr. Anthon-Yong Fauching.”
“In a televised address to 1.4 billion beloved citizens caged in their own homes in the name of health, Chairman Xi Jinping introduced the Chinese Communist Party’s new Head of COVID Policy, Dr. Anthon-Yong Fauching,” the article said.
The article then joked that the new Head of China’s COVID policy demanded the execution of a journalist who questioned his methods, touting the success of the new measures while “wiping fresh blood from his hands and humming a happy tune.”
The satirical article was written in light of the outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Shanghai, China, and the Chinese government’s response to it. According to Fortune, over 26,000 new cases have been reported, and strict lockdown measures have been implemented, resulting in a food shortage.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and is the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, has been repeatedly criticized by conservatives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for his health safety recommendations. Many conservatives have characterized pandemic related restrictions as an infringement on civil liberties.
“I guess the @babylonbee’s (sic) normal casual racism wasn’t enough, they had to go full tilt with this one,” one person replied to a tweet by The Babylon Bee managing editor Joel Berry that included a link to the satirical article.
“Just a reminder that the Babylon Bee is racist trash,” said Oklahoma church planter Bryan Padgett. “These clowns claim Jesus, and then folks wonder why more and more want nothing to do with Christianity and/or are deconstructing. I’m so sick of how acceptable & commonplace racism is in white, evangelical Christianity.”
“There is a circulating Babylon Bee post (I won’t share the image) that hits a new level in their racism, [especially] anti-Asian hate,” tweeted theologian Sam Won. “The Bee is a mirror. What should trouble all of us is that there is an American Christianity that encourages & affirms their racism. I’m at a loss.”
RELATED: Esau McCaulley – Black Christian Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Racism
“And I cannot take seriously anyone’s claims about wanting racial reconciliation or unity in Christ if they find the Bee’s kind of toxic racist content funny or see it as harmless,” Won went on to say.
