Elon Musk loves The Babylon Bee
Also, a GIANT conspiracy!
Apologies for the simple edition this week — I don’t know why exactly, but I’ve been running behind on practically everything the last few days, including this newsletter. I blame it on the blood moon, or possibly the warmer weather putting me in holiday mode. I am a lizard sunning himself on a toasty highway, blissfully unaware of the oncoming traffic.
Musk and the Bee
Here’s a weird thing: A contributing factor to Elon Musk acquiring Twitter appears to be the suspension of The Babylon Bee’s account back in March.
The satirical right-wing Christian website was temporarily suspended after posting a transphobic tweet about Biden administration official Rachel Levine. According to Bob Smietana at Religion News Service, Elon Musk was a fan of the Bee, as was his ex-wife Talulah Jane Riley, who texted him about the suspension.
“The Babylon Bee got suspension is crazy!” read the text, which was made public earlier this year. “Why has everyone become so puritanical?” Then Riley suggested Musk buy Twitter and either delete it or “make it radically free-speech.”
The texts were released as part of the lawsuit when Musk tried to back out of the deal to acquire Twitter. The Babylon Bee wrote about the situation in July, joking that Elon only wanted to buy Twitter to let them back on the platform.
Since Elon Musk took over, the Babylon Bee’s account has not been unlocked, although I’ve seen one previously suspended account post about being let out of Twitter jail.
Maybe it’s only a matter of time before we are again treated to hilarious barbs like, *checks last tweet before the Bee’s account was locked* “Nation Wishes There Were Some Way They Could Have Known About The Hunter Biden Laptop Story Before The Election”.
Hilarious. Try the veal.
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There’s a new Catholic Lofi mix
I love unusual religious “lofi beats to relax/study to” videos on YouTube, and the most consistent is Catholic Lofi, which is also on Spotify.
There’s a new one out! It’s called cigar, bible and chill (lofi + chant). I’m listening to it now as I write this!
A giant conspiracy
I’m only halfway through listening to this so far but it’s great. The latest episode of the Weird Religion podcast is about the conspiracy that giants once roamed North America and their bones are now being smuggled away and hidden by the Smithsonian.
This of course relates directly to the nephilim in the Book of Genesis (and Enoch) and Goliath from 1 Samuel. I’d never come across this conspiracy before, but it’s apparently a pretty big one (haha)? I guess it makes sense considering there are a lot of biblical literalists out there. If there are giants in the Bible, why aren’t there giant bones?
This is one of the videos hosts Brian and Leah talk about, but you should open it in an incognito tab unless you want to really fuck up your YouTube algorithm.
Thank you for sending me this, Marty
Some good things to read!
I’ve had these articles open in tabs for weeks waiting for the perfect time to include them in this newsletter. No more! All tabs must go!
‘You can’t cancel me’: embattled TikTok star reinvents herself as a warrior for Jesus
(Jess McHugh / Guardian)
Evangelical influencing has existed for about as long as social media has, but the rise of the professional influencer class has turned this niche into a growing phenomenon. Davis joins a cast of beautiful, young women with cross emojis in their Instagram bios who minister to their millions of followers – usually without any seminary training. Their message may be light on scripture and heavy on motivational soundbites, but they reach a public most local pastors only dream of.
‘The jokes were fantastic’: Jewish Twitter users reflect on their community as the Musk era sets in
(Philissa Cramer / Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Whatever they call it, the Jewish users of Twitter have used the site over the past 15 years to do everything from trade jokes, fight over food and contend over abiding divisions in Jewish communities, often in terms that would be hard to understand for anyone who’s not versed in Jewish tradition, texts and pop culture references.
Ron's house: Minotaur head and lion discovered in rented Birkenhead flat
(Dan Curtis / BBC)
Ron Gittins lived in Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula in England. A curious and colourful character, he was both well-known but also a total mystery to friends, neighbours and even family.
It was only after he died in 2019, and relatives were asked to clear his rented home that the weird, wonderful private world he had made for himself was uncovered.
This isn’t strictly about religion but it fits ~the vibe~.
Is folk horror the last truly Christian film genre?
(Joseph Joyce / Angelus)
A common denominator in these films is the threat invariably coming from a pre-Christian deity or cult. Folk horror is unique among horror, or indeed any genre, in remaining cleareyed on the realities of paganism.
Not sure I love the phrasing of the above quote but it’s an interesting article for sure.
The ‘This American Life’ of ghost stories is captivating Gen Z
(Taylor Lorenz / WaPo)
Unlike other paranormal podcasts, Wagner interviews people who have had paranormal experiences directly and often goes to great lengths to investigate their validity. In one episode, in which two brothers talk about seeing the same strange, dark figure wearing a hat, Wagner tracks down the founder of a “hat man” forum that catalogues these types of supernatural sightings.
Gonna bring this banger back before Twitter gets deleted
Every Pokemon as Ned Flanders
Michael posted this Kotaku article in the Modern Relics Discord. An Instagram account called @neddymon_ is on a “journey to flanderize the original 151 pokemon one at a time and complete the Diddlydex”.
It’s a peak millennial project — what thirtysomething didn’t grow up playing Pokemon and watching America’s favourite Christian on the Simpsons? Oh what’s that you say? Heaps of evangelical kids weren’t allowed to do either of those things? Well I did. My experiences are universal.
Oh by the way
Substack has launched Substack Chat, which is kind of like a message board you can post in if you have Substack Reader downloaded on iOS. Substack Reader is my preferred way of reading newsletters, but I know only very few Modern Relics readers currently use it. That’s fine! The Modern Relics Discord already exists. I’ll experiment with chat over the next few weeks and we’ll see if it’s useful to us.
Reminder that if you want to say something about any particular edition of this newsletter, the comments section is right there! Every time you comment, I get an email, so I usually read it and respond. It also probably tells Substack that people like this newsletter. Okay bye until next week!