Paris Olympics

Paris Olympics Makes a Mockery of Jesus – Now It’s Up to Christians to Respond

31 July 2024

3.4 MINS

Sadly, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. While the games are normally a showcase of athletic ability and nationality, Olympic organisers clearly had other things on their minds.

Updated 5 August 2024.

In an obvious reference to Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Last Supper painting, organisers decided to use LGBTQ+ icon Barbara Butch to depict Jesus, with transgendered and drag queen disciples.

Just as disturbing was the inclusion of children in the depiction who stood near grotesquely (and scantily) clothed adults performing sexually suggestive poses. This is a not-so-subtle endorsement of paedophilia.

Widespread Backlash

Unsurprisingly, widespread condemnation of the ceremony quickly followed the Olympic opening.

USA-based communications company C Spire announced: “We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics.”

C Spire

Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) and Tesla, wrote, “This was extremely disrespectful to Christians.” He went on to say, “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish”. That post has now had over 114 million views.

Musk is not a Christian, so he gets it wrong when he worries about the extinction of Christianity. However, he is right in sounding the alarm that Christianity is deeply linked to promoting “what is fair and right” – and its decline will negatively impact everyone.

If there is little response to the Olympic openings, it will pave the way for more ridicule and marginalisation of Christianity. In a world where Christians are the greatest persecuted group, mockery of Christianity on the public stage must not be trivialised.

A silent response signals to people that Jesus is a figure that can be laughed off – and this misperception of the man who will rule the earth forever and judge the wicked at His return (Matthew 24:31–46) – is no laughing matter.

For all these reasons, we encourage you to write to the International Olympic Committee by clicking the orange button below.

 

You can also write to our federal politicians and any Olympic sponsors. Money talks. See the link here for Olympic sponsors.

Some Do’s and Don’ts for Letters of Complaint

  • Always be respectful (no rants).
  • Write separate emails and change them accordingly for the person you are writing to.
  • Thank them for what they do. We are all human and appreciate kindness (a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down).
  • Point out that the Last Supper is a celebration of the blood and the broken body of Jesus and is the remembrance of God’s great love for us all. As such it is the holiest celebration in the Christian faith.
  • Share the good news of the gospel (tell your story of salvation).
  • Point out that even Muslims are protesting about this too. This is not just about us, it is about us all. We have to respect other opinions and not denigrate each other.
  • Always put your name and address. This shows them you are a real person and not just an automated response.

Lame Apology and Coverup

Games spokesperson Anne Descamps issued a lame apology, essentially saying that the opening ceremony was wonderful, and implied that if you found it blasphemous – you are the problematic one.

Even worse, event organisers have attempted to deny that they were using the Last Supper as the basis for their performance. The creative director of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, rejected any link to Jesus. Yet in now-deleted posts, performers in the disgraceful act openly boasted they were portraying “The New Gay Testament”. You can read more about this lying cover-up in The Daily Declaration here.

When you write your letter(s), we recommend including the following points:

1. An actual apology from the organisers of the opening ceremony. An apology should include an explicit statement that publicly mocking Christianity (or any faith) is unacceptable and must never find a place in society. Depicting Jesus in this way was a grave insult to billions of Christians (and Muslims, who view Jesus as a holy prophet).

2. A guarantee from the Olympic Committee that mockery of the Christian faith will never again be a part of the Olympic ceremonies.

If you are choosing not to watch the Olympics, include this too. Money talks and viewership is vitally important to them.

God is Using the Situation for Good!

Despite the spiritual battle playing out in front of us, God is using this situation for good! Jesus is all of a sudden the topic on people’s minds during the Olympics!


Let us pray for opportunities to share the good news about Jesus with people, as many are doing in Paris right now.

Yours for exalting Jesus and restoring righteousness,

Samuel Hartwich & Warwick Marsh

We need your help. The continued existence of the Daily Declaration depends on the generosity of readers like you. Donate now. The Daily Declaration is committed to keeping our site free of advertising so we can stay independent and continue to stand for the truth.

Fake news and censorship make the work of the Canberra Declaration and our Christian news site the Daily Declaration more important than ever. Take a stand for family, faith, freedom, life, and truth. Support us as we shine a light in the darkness. Donate now.

4 Comments

  1. 012b5d581a4ca46f6c90e05b0731147a597d555b00d395534a265f7a5a4d7365?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    Pauline Tondl 1 August 2024 at 11:12 am - Reply

    It’s a shame that that blasphemous display has received so much attention.
    Though since human nature gravitates to the sensational, it’s really no surprise.

    But it’s nevertheless a good thing it has, because the real intentions of the LGBTIQ etc crowd have been unequivocally seen by everyone : to denigrate the living God and His created order, and pervert and corrupt His likeness in humanity, in a most foundational way.

    As for Christians declaring we are offended by such sacrilege, while it’s true that we’re offended, that won’t stop the LGBTIQ crowd from doing what they are enjoy.
    Do they care or respect what Christians think or believe ?
    The evidence so far is that they neither care nor respect Christian beliefs.
    Not one iota.

    But they are screaming out for the living God to prove that His exists, that their actions matter, and that He will in fact call every individual to account for what they have done. And that He has the power and authority to judge each one justly.

    Until they feel the pain of His righteous judgement, they will continue to indulge in the sin and perversion they love.

    And aren’t we all like that ?
    Isn’t it only a bold rebuke and painful punishment for our errors that force us to choose the better way ?
    2 Chronicles 7:14

    May the mercy and grace of the living God, through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, bring about a tsunami of repentance and saving faith across our groaning world.
    To Him alone be the glory and praise today and forever.

  2. 012b5d581a4ca46f6c90e05b0731147a597d555b00d395534a265f7a5a4d7365?s=54&d=mm&r=g
    Pauline Tondl 1 August 2024 at 2:25 pm - Reply

    FYI, my message to Mr Bach was rejected : the recipient address (that you provided) was rejected.

    • 1296d4aa9156c0e73d915a2661a2b1b62746bc3c2aad3a8f70cd410871e35703?s=54&d=mm&r=g
      DENNIS P 2 August 2024 at 4:26 pm - Reply

      mine too.

  3. Samuel Hartwich
    Samuel Hartwich 5 August 2024 at 7:52 pm - Reply

    Thanks for letting us know. We have updated this article and changed the contact details to the Olympic Committee.

Leave A Comment

Recent Articles:

Use your voice today to protect

Faith · Family · Freedom · Life

MOST POPULAR

ABOUT

The Daily Declaration is an Australian Christian news site dedicated to providing a voice for Christian values in the public square. Our vision is to see the revitalisation of our Judeo-Christian values for the common good. We are non-profit, independent, crowdfunded, and provide Christian news for a growing audience across Australia, Asia, and the South Pacific. The opinions of our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of The Daily Declaration. Read More.

MOST COMMENTS

GOOD NEWS

HALL OF FAME

BROWSE TOPICS

BROWSE GENRES