Blasphemy of Olympic Proportions

Like many others, I forgot that the Olympic Games were scheduled to begin in Paris on July 26. With an attempted assassination of the presumed next American president, an internal coup committed against the current one, and a litany of side stories and events, watching people far fitter than me cycle, swim, and sprint was not remotely on my radar. All that changed on Friday night.

As if filing a formal request for a divine lightning bolt, the organizers of the 206-nation, 33rd Olympic Games decided to parade a torrent of dark, blasphemous, Satanic, imagery meant to mock and lampoon almost anything beautiful and redeeming about French culture. A play-by-play description isn’t really necessary, but suffice it to say that drag queens, the preferred representative of the post-Christian West, were legion. The centerpiece of the production was a sacrilegious recreation of the famous Last Supper painting fraught with a cacophony of LGBT representatives.

Enough backlash was generated after the ceremony to cause the opening production to be scrubbed from the official Olympics YouTube channel. Ignoring the travesty altogether, France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, praised the display, saying, “Bravo, you made France shine.”

Only about 24 hours later, Paris plunged into a full-on power blackout (with a cause yet to be determined). This after several delays due to mass-transit sabotage on Friday, ceaseless rain, and concerns over the quality in the River Seine. If divine retribution was warranted, it certainly seems it’s being dealt out.

A variety of reactions to the blasphemous display were elicited over Friday and Saturday. Even many non-Christian personalities were taken aback by the blatant mockery of Christianity so prominently displayed for the entire World. Many Christians have pointed out the need for revival, others to the need to use positions of power and influence to dissuade and punish such behavior.

A globally sponsored desecration has global-level implications. Here are four takeaways from the Olympic Games Blasphemy:

1) A Vacuum isn’t Neutral

Many have pointed out the fact that France represents, in many ways, the most progressive of all Western European nations, and so such blatant mistreatment of Christianity should be expected. This is partly true. The French Revolution did set the nation on an immediate trajectory of near-constant political/social upheaval, and murdering/exiling thousands of French Protestants in 1572 certainly accelerated the secular domination of the nation. But while France’s relationship to Christianity has ebbed and flowed over the centuries, it’s been generally recognized that Christendom is at the heart of the French national identity.

France has seen a not insignificant rise in evangelicalism over the last several years, but the fastest-growing faith in the nation is indisputably Islam. The entrance of hordes of Muslims began in the post-colonial era with a stream of migrants from North Africa but has grown to a raging torrent from all over the Muslim world. This rapid demographic shift has caused an unfathomable number of cultural/social/security issues for France, not the least of which is the increased demand for Islamic Sharia law in various municipalities across the country.

The French political/social system is run not by Muslims or Christians, but by a conglomeration of secular liberals committed first and foremost to sexual deviency. This is why when they’re tasked with presenting France to the world, they portray what they see as the highest achievement for a secular society: the overthrow of Christian morality in favor of sexual debauchery. But they cannot do the same for Islam, because they fear for their lives.

2) “Global Unity” is a Farce

The Olympics began in 1896 as a revival of the ancient Greek games but bore little resemblance to today’s Games in terms of participation. The first Games were almost exclusively represented by European nations with the exceptions of the US, Canada, Australia, and Chile. World Wars interrupted several Games and numerous boycotts have cut down participation throughout the last 130 years (for example, the 66-nation boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games). This is because even peaceful competition isn’t enough to unite nations that have next to nothing in common culturally, socially, politically, and spiritually.

Whereas some Games really have served to highlight the triumph of the physical capacity God has given to humans, 2024 in Paris is awash in sabotage, civil/social unrest, and physical/spiritual darkness. There isn’t unity. There isn’t fraternity. There isn’t liberty. The Christian framework that the original Games operated in is what made these things possible. Wars not only rage but escalate during the Games, putting into clear view the words written in Psalm 2:

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

3) The Battle Lines Are Not as They Seem

Ten years ago the Olympic games were held in Sochi, Russia. The opening ceremony featured an array of artistic representations of Russian culture and history, most notably a huge ballet performance hearkening that looked right out of a Tolstoy novel. The 2024 Olympics have barred Russia over the War in Ukraine, meaning the Games are very much “Western” in style and influence compared to 2014.

On Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized several things concerning the Games, notably the blasphemous opening ceremony, calling it a “mockery of a sacred story for Christians.” There were similar condemnations from several American politicians and personalities.

Amid a monumental election in the US, American Christians have been instructed by their politicians and Church leaders that Russia represents an “existential threat” to all that they hold dear. The same rhetoric is repeatedly used to maintain support for Israel in its struggle against Hamas. While these situations are not remotely the same, there is a profound disconnect between calls for solidarity with Western or Western-aligned nations (that includes France) and the blatantly obvious truth that most of the leaders of those nations look upon the Christians in their countries with utter contempt and scorn.

Those painted as friends and foes don’t seem to line up with the reality on the ground. Rather, the greatest threat to Christians would seem to be the “liberal democracies” they live in that are hellbent on removing any vestige of Christ from their nations so that hordes of “migrants” from across the earth can come and replace their peaceful, righteous, and contributive citizens.

4) Christian Vigilance is Paramount

The desecration of Christianity at the Paris Olympics should be directly tied to the latest drag-queen story hour down the street. They are of the same spirit, wearing the same jersey. Seeing Christ blasphemed by what is supposed to be an “inclusive,” global effort should remind Christians that the hour is late. It’s a reminder to be intentional about being salt and light in our own communities, but also that those communities are extremely fragile. 

Christians in political or social positions of influence need not be timid about punishing such evil. They don’t need to get caught up in an endless cycle of concern over “what if they do this to us,” because they already are. Fear God. Punish evil. Reward good.

It’s also a reminder that seeking to protect our children from such deviance is nothing to be ashamed of. We are meant to trust God with their well-being, but we were never required to offer them up as a sacrifice on the altar of liberalism. For some, this may mean considering relocation a bit more seriously. For others, it may mean active community involvement or involving oneself in a church ministry that’s more directly confrontational towards the Spirit-of-the-Age.

“…spreads them like a tent…”

Ultimately, what’s most important is for Christians not to fall into despondency or become overwhelmed by the evil pitted against us. Isaiah reminds us: 

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. (Isaiah 40:22–23)

The same Lord who holds the nations in His hands holds His people. 

Let us trust in Him.