Backlash continues over Olympics opening ceremony mocking Christians: Who has spoken out?

With politicians and celebrities alike weighing in on the now infamous Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, it is now abundantly clear that the organizers of the event have incurred the wrath of Christians the world over due to a specific scene during the celebration.

What was the problem with the Olympics’ Opening Ceremony?

If you had the chance like many around the glove to catch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics last Friday night, you were undoubtedly amazed by the coordinated fireworks, the torch relay in tandem with the giant hot air balloon that now holds the torch itself, the numerous sporting celebrities, and of course the magnificent performance of Celine Dion.

Yet, what likely caught your attention was not related to any of that, but rather a strange scene that unfolded during the ceremony in which a dinner platter lifted to reveal a mostly nude man who was painted blue, as dancers and drag queens struck poses along a long table in the background. Some critics immediately compared the tableau to Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of “The Last Supper,” in which Jesus Christ and his apostles were depicted sharing a final meal before his crucifixion.

Organizers have since strongly denied that Christ’s “Last Supper” was in any way used as inspiration, with Thomas Jolly, the ceremony’s artistic director explaining on Saturday, July 27th at a press conference that he had no intention to “to be subversive,” “mock” or “shock.” Jelly continued stating, “We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he said. “In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are a republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.” Interestingly, Jolly also went on to give further context in an interview on Saturday, July 28th. “There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the God of celebration in Greek mythology. “The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone.”

What have critics said about the Paris 2024 Opening ceremony?

To be honest, a whole lot. From lawmakers to television personalities and even the catholic church itself, there has been intense backlash regarding the scene that was witnessed. For starters, there was House Speaker Mike Johnsons, R-La, who took to Twitter with a scathing review of the scene he believed crossed a line.

“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,” Johnson said X. “The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail.” Johnson then continued, referencing the Bible verse John 1:15, which reads, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

There was also Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who also made her views known on social media, attacking both the ceremony and those responsible for it. “The French Olympic Committee has been hard at work taking down videos of their satanic, trans, and occult opening ceremonies claiming copyright laws,” she wrote. “It’s our First Amendment right to share these videos and our outright over the anti-Christian Olympic opening ceremonies.” Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini echoed similar sentiments in his post of a picture of the drag queens over another picture of the Last Supper. “Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians around the world was a really bad start, dear French,” he wrote. “Seedy.”

Regarding the view of the religious world, Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican, Eduard Habsburg, made a reference to the beheading of former French queen Marie Antoinette, saying, “...because decapitating Habsburgs and ridiculizing central Christian events are really the FIRST two things that spring to mind when you think of [the Olympic Games].” Never one to be left out of a good roast, Fox Nation’s host Piers Morgan chimed in as well with a more frank take as he posted a picture of the drag queens alongside the table with the caption, “Btw, what the f - - - was all this about? A drag queen mockery of the Last Supper at the Olympics? Would they have mocked any other religion like this? Appalling decision,” Morgan wrote. “Unsurprising fury. Imagine if they’d mocked Islam like this,” he wrote in yet another post.

Ultimately, whether France went too far or not is of little importance at this point as critics seem to believe they did. That’s without mentioning the idea that said critics have seemingly misunderstood where the inspiration for the scene came from i.e., Greek mythology as opposed to Christian history. At that point, the question that remains is where does freedom of expression end and offense begin?