The last laugh in Paris

The Olympic "Last Supper" faux pas is not very complicated at all.

Let’s say aliens landed in Paris, and on their planet river water is revered as holy. Let’s say they showed up right as the rider was flying down the Seine on a mechanical horse, and this display was almost exactly a replica of their most sacred ceremony to their deity, except masking of the face during the sacrament is considered to be the sign of immense insult. The aliens would be greatly offended—perhaps, if they were of an emotional bent on acting without thinking, they would immediately pack up and leave, ordering the home world to mark this planet for destruction.

Image: Tweet by Speaker Mike Johnson

“But Steve,” you say, “we’d have no idea the aliens would be offended by this.” You are correct. They are aliens, and we are clueless about their culture or what offends them. And if this actually happened last Friday night, well, we’re all pretty well in a pickle barrel.

The simplest explanation of the display of Dionysus, recreated at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris is that the organizers did it because they could. I don’t have to explain that the image depicted portrayed something very familiar to many observant Christians. The big lady in the center, surrounded by apparently transgender women, children, and provocatively-dressed men, looks similar to the image and placement of Christ in the Da Vinci painting “The Last Supper.”

The committee that put on the display noted it was a depiction of Dionysus, the greek god of “god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre” (Wikipedia). He is also known as “Bacchus” as in “bacchanalia,” a wild party, frequently accompanied by lots of drinking and, sometimes, an orgy. Over the ages, there have been various images of Dionysus, and some may resemble the display at the opening ceremony.

Now, let’s get into the motivations of the people who put this thing together. Did any of them look at it, scratch their heads, and say “You know, this looks vaguely familiar. Maybe Christians would be offended?” I don’t know. Perhaps.

Or maybe they regard Christians with the same lens as the earthlings regard aliens in my first example. The number of observant Christians in France is appallingly low. I believe, based on what a missionary told our church, that about three percent of French residents attend some kind of Bible-believing church regularly. The pews at France’s enormous Catholic cathedrals sit empty, and the edifices are more tourist attractions and architectural wonders than places of worship.

Those who run France can be forgiven if they missed something that would be accidentally offensive to Christians in America (or elsewhere around the globe). The people who run the Olympics—which is far, far, from a Christian movement—are doubly forgiven for their ignorance of Christian art of symbology. It’s alien to them.

The initial reaction upon seeing the display, by some very well-known Americans, was, let’s say, reflexive.

Speaker Mike Johnson tweeted: “Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

That’s probably the most kind representation of a wave of revulsion that swept through social media. I didn’t look at it.

Personally, I missed this when it happened. I caught the end of the proceedings, which I thought were amazing and absolutely cool in the tradition of the City of Lights. But when I saw it, I was hardly offended. As Christians, I cannot expect people who know nothing of Jesus to respect imagery of Him. The Olympic organizers apologized.

From Twitter (Grok summarizing): “Organizers defended the concept as an expression of French values, including freedom of belief, but acknowledged that it may have offended some viewers. The creative director clarified that the tableau was not directly inspired by 'The Last Supper,' but rather by the Greek god Dionysus, symbolizing the celebration of life and joy. Despite the apology, the incident has continued to generate discussion and criticism.”

At the risk of speaking for my fellow writers here at The Racket News™, I will quote David Thornton’s tweets.

The more I hear about the Olympic brouhaha, the more certain I am that it’s a misunderstanding. The Olympic Committee apologized to those who were offended but stood by the performance, which in context does not seem to have been a representation of the Last Supper.

I accept the explanations and the apology. I’m still not keen on the performance, but that’s just me. I see no need for anyone to continue being outraged or engage in cancel culture behavior.

I also spoke with Merrie, one of our guest contributors. We all seem to feel the same way.

As for me, I’ll add a few thoughts of my own.

Perhaps Christians are not doing a very good job sending workers to the harvest if “an expression of French values” is more akin to a pagan Greek god than to the hundreds of empty cathedrals dotting their country.

It’s also possible that the “expression of French values” the creative director referred to was purposely a thumb of the nose at Christians and the God of Christianity. It’s possible that the same spirit that animated the Great Terror of the French Revolution—the overthrow of all things Christian—is deeply embedded in French culture.

And also: I know if the Olympic organizers had done something even vaguely reminiscent of what Charlie Hebdo published in 2011, they’d think twice, or three times, before letting that be publicly seen. The offices of that newspaper were firebombed for its insult to the particular community that was offended. Certain cultural third rails are to be avoided with extreme care. Depicting something offensive to American Christians is not one of them.

As a Christian, I know the enemy of my soul is not a human being. I know the enemy of God’s order is not found in an Olympic ceremony, which itself is quite pagan in its origins.

I also know that the message of the cross is not death, but love and life. I know that carrying the cross—not of Christ but of faith—means turning the other cheek, and holding myself lower than my brothers and sisters in the faith.

My personal response to the Olympic organizers is what Jesus said to the mockers at his crucifixion: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34.) God loves the French people, and Jesus died for them.

Faith in Christ, and the Bible, tells me that God’s people have the last laugh. One day Christ will return, and reign a thousand years. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The only message I can give to the French people right now is gratitude. French culture has enriched the world. French cuisine has enriched my own belly. The French are largely responsible for the existence of the United States. The French sacrificed their men, land, and in some cases, their honor, to defend freedom and democracy.

And the French put on a really good show for the world on Friday. The existence of one scene does not mar that. Let’s move on and celebrate the athletes.

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