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Babylon Bee Threatened With Lawsuit By Awana For Posting ‘Beyond Satire’ Trump Piece
The Daily Wire ^ | 6/5/2020 | James Barrett

Posted on 06/05/2020 3:11:19 PM PDT by jeannineinsd

Popular conservative satirical site Babylon Bee says they’ve been threatened with a lawsuit from Awana over a recent satirical post about President Trump’s religious photo-opping that references the evangelical youth organization.

“Trump Shows Off Completed Awana Vest,” reads the title of the satirical piece, posted Tuesday, a day after Trump held up a Bible outside the historic, protester/rioter-burned St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House. The top image of the Bee’s piece is a photoshopped image of Trump sporting a red Awana Club vest. The satirical piece reads:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Trump and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are firing Bible photo ops back and forth, as you would expect politicians to be doing at a time like this.

But Trump won the contest of Bible knowledge by showing off his completed Awana Sparks vest today. He dusted off the old red vest and solemnly put it on at a rally this morning. The president proved he knows the Bible way better than other politicians by proudly displaying his old Sparks vest complete with awards for Bible memory.

“Skipper, Hiker, Climber: I got all the Bible memory patches,” he said proudly. “I got the gems in those crowns way before all the other kids. Romans, Ephesians, Hezekiah: I know all the books. Many great books; everyone says so.”

Trump also said he won all the relay games during the Awana Olympics every year, taking home the championship for his church. “It really was pretty unfair to the other kids,” he said. “Eventually, they just asked me to sit out so the other kids could have a chance.”

Pelosi tried to show him up with her Timothy Award but onlookers immediately noticed the name on the trophy said “Mike Pence.”

On Wednesday, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon announced on Twitter that Awana is “threatening to sue us” if they don’t take the story down.

“The chief communications officer at [Awana] is threatening to sue us if we don’t take this down,” Dillon tweeted Wednesday. “The claim is that this article is ‘beyond satire’ — whatever that means — and contains offensive material (an image of the president of the United States).”

In a follow-up post, Dillon highlighted Awana tweeting in response to a 2018 Babylon Bee article that they “always appreciate an entertaining [Awana] feature from [The Babylon Bee” and asked, “What changed?

The answer might have to do with the literally explosive situation regarding the riots that have followed the death of George Floyd. On Tuesday, the same day the Babylon Bee published their Trump-Awana satirical piece, Awana posted a tweet for calling for justice for Floyd and other African-Americans who have died in police-related or racially charged incidents.

“George, Ahmaud, Breonna, Philando, Tamir, Michael, Eric, Trayvon … Individuals and image-bearers,” the organization tweeted. “Children created for and by God. Now is the time to have a courageous conversation with the children in your life about the violence that is racism and the need for justice.” The “beyond satire” criticism is reminiscent of left-leaning Snopes’ attempt to “fact-check” the Babylon Bee in 2019.

“We’re not sure if fanning the flames of controversy and muddying the details of a news story classify an article as ‘satire,'” Snopes wrote in the notably fact-light “fact-check” of a Chick-fil-A-themed post. Because of the significant role Snopes has been given by platforms, the Babylon Bee got lawyers involved.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: awana; babylonbee; lawsuit
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1 posted on 06/05/2020 3:11:19 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
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To: jeannineinsd

Satire is protected speech.
Already decided by the Supreme Court and the crazies on the “Comedy Channel”


2 posted on 06/05/2020 3:13:28 PM PDT by Zathras
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To: jeannineinsd

just unreal


3 posted on 06/05/2020 3:14:19 PM PDT by RaceBannon (Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for)
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To: jeannineinsd

Hilarious!

Leftist snot-noses can’t take a joke.


4 posted on 06/05/2020 3:16:39 PM PDT by Bullish (CNN is what happens when 8th graders run a cable network.)
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To: jeannineinsd

Can’t wait for the BB to come up with an article on this.


5 posted on 06/05/2020 3:16:59 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: jeannineinsd

Karen has no sense of humor...


6 posted on 06/05/2020 3:18:38 PM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: jeannineinsd

And this group is supposed to be Christian? Not much brotherly love on display.


7 posted on 06/05/2020 3:19:10 PM PDT by proud American in Canada (In these trying times, Give me Liberty or Give me Death As in,)
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To: American in Israel

Karens never do have much of a sense of humor.


8 posted on 06/05/2020 3:20:12 PM PDT by proud American in Canada (In these trying times, Give me Liberty or Give me Death As in,)
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To: SkyDancer

LOL! I thought that’s what THIS was!!


9 posted on 06/05/2020 3:22:01 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Fact: Gun control laws kill innocents.)
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To: Zathras
But Trump won the contest of Bible knowledge by showing off his completed Awana Sparks vest today. He dusted off the old red vest and solemnly put it on at a rally this morning.

Beyond satire because it is reasonable for an aged senior citizen to wear a vest he had as a young child in grammar school.

10 posted on 06/05/2020 3:23:31 PM PDT by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken)
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To: jeannineinsd
This is free advertising for an organization I have never heard of, and I imagine a number of other people haven't either.

Some will want to look into Awana because it was associated with Trump. Others will want to because the association was a dis on Trump.

Awana's gonna potentially get a bunch of new business from the left and the right

11 posted on 06/05/2020 3:24:28 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear
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To: jeannineinsd

As an aside, my son, who did a masters program at seminary selects home churches when he moves based on whether they have an Awana program. He says that a running Awana program is a good indicator that the church actually believes the Bible as the Word of God. His daughter completed the Bible verse memory program while she was in high school.


12 posted on 06/05/2020 3:25:35 PM PDT by the_Watchman
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To: RandallFlagg

Seems they’re serious but yeah, it’s something I’d see on the BB. I trust them for real news.


13 posted on 06/05/2020 3:26:13 PM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: proud American in Canada

Awana is a great org. They need to laugh though. It is funny. The people who write the Babylon bee probably were brought up in it


14 posted on 06/05/2020 3:26:30 PM PDT by BRL
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To: proud American in Canada
Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals:
RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”

There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.

Take THAT Karen!
15 posted on 06/05/2020 3:26:42 PM PDT by null and void (By the pricking of my lungs, Something wicked this way comes ...)
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To: BRL

I will have to check out this organization. Thanks!


16 posted on 06/05/2020 3:28:14 PM PDT by proud American in Canada (In these trying times, Give me Liberty or Give me Death As in,)
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To: jeannineinsd

What is this AWANA thing?


17 posted on 06/05/2020 3:30:06 PM PDT by jocon307 (Dem party delenda est!)
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To: null and void

LOL! Perfect! Turn their rules around against them. :)


18 posted on 06/05/2020 3:30:07 PM PDT by proud American in Canada (In these trying times, Give me Liberty or Give me Death As in,)
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To: proud American in Canada

Karens never do have much of a sense of humor.
Except if you show them a photo of Trump either
slipping on a banana peel or having a heart attack.


19 posted on 06/05/2020 3:30:43 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: jeannineinsd

“Hello - I demand to speak to the manager of the Babylon Bee!”


20 posted on 06/05/2020 3:30:45 PM PDT by Junk Silver (If we're "all in this together" name one government employee or bureaucrat who has been laid off.)
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