Berry took exception to Won’s critique, replying, “The Bee will continue to criticize the oppression of the Chinese people by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] while you sanctimoniously wring your hands about cultural appropriation. You’re a privileged, spiritually abusive Pharisee and I see through what you’re doing here.”
“[By the way,] our photoshopper is Chinese but go off, Pharisee,” Berry added.
In response, Won said, “There really isn’t a reasonable defense of the BB’s recent post but this is certainly unhelpful in every way.”
ChurchLeaders reached out to Berry for comment. He replied with the following statement.
Luckily you caught me waiting for a plane and I have nothing better to do.
We don’t lose sleep worrying about the opinions of the privileged Evangelical thinking class that sanctimoniously clutches its pearls over cultural appropriation while the CCP oppresses and starves its own people.
The crimes of the CCP against the poor, the marginalized, and our Christian brothers and sisters in China is what this article was written to critique. Instead of focusing on that, most of our critics, many of whom are progressive Evangelicals and liberation theologists who have fallen victim to this toxic race obsession that has overtaken the West, have chosen to call the Bee racists and white supremacists. This is manipulative spiritual abuse of the worst kind.
The Bee has always played with racial and ethnic stereotypes. Most healthy, well-adjusted people who aren’t privileged Western academics enjoy the humor of making light of the cultural differences in this human family we’re all a part of. We will continue to do what we’re doing while speaking truth to a post-truth culture and calling out actual injustices around the world. We don’t care what a couple of self-righteous, race-obsessed Pharisees have to say about us.
But it’s possible other critics were simply confused by the joke, so let me explain. The joke is that China introduced a new head of COVID policy and his name is Dr. Anthon-Yong Fauching.
Hope this helps.
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“One of the things that doesn’t get nuanced in this situation is that anti-Communist rhetoric is often seen as a free pass for all sorts of hate speech and nationalistic rhetoric,” Won said to ChurchLeaders. “When you add in the Chinese ethnic element, this politicized rhetoric becomes a vehicle for ‘approved’ racism.”
“This is why I don’t see any credibility in using the anti-CCP argument as validation for what The Babylon Bee posted. There is simply no justifiable use for racist hate. I also feel great concern and frustration over the way the CCP oppresses people,” Won continued. “This is not an ethnically defined issue, but the Sinophobia and anti-Asian hate is given a pass by many Americans who cannot nuance these issues.”
