Meanwhile, in France

[Szdfan]

In your persistent loyalty to perverse values over Christianity, you are parsing the point to death, sorry so say.
Both the Olympic event and the painting, are depictions of a historic Biblical event where Jesus played the prominent role. The painting tried to honor the last supper. The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

I think some Christians are looking for reasons to feel offended, I'm sorry to say. I think this kind of outrage porn is also perverse to Christianity.

[RZehr]

In your persistent loyalty to perverse values over Christianity, you are parsing the point to death, sorry so say.
Both the Olympic event and the painting, are depictions of a historic Biblical event where Jesus played the prominent role. The painting tried to honor the last supper. The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

I think some Christians are looking for reasons to feel offended, I'm sorry to say. I think this kind of outrage porn is also perverse to Christianity.

Maybe so, but you are awfully quick to carry water for seemingly every other perceived slight towards any DEI group. Try to be more evenhanded, how about? Try harder.

Offended or not, you are parsing this in a very weird way. I’m taking issue with your logic more than taking offense at the evil that France chose to do.

It would seem like a weak argument to say that because a Nazi symbol is depicted in red, white, and blue, the Jews shouldn’t be offended. After all, it’s just a depiction of a depiction.

[Ken]

In your persistent loyalty to perverse values over Christianity, you are parsing the point to death, sorry so say.
Both the Olympic event and the painting, are depictions of a historic Biblical event where Jesus played the prominent role. The painting tried to honor the last supper. The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

I think some Christians are looking for reasons to feel offended, I'm sorry to say. I think this kind of outrage porn is also perverse to Christianity.

Yes, it's another fake outrage fest. The sort of thing that makes young people think that conservative Christians are just humorless scolds.

This was the actual Paris Olympics live twitter feed coverage of the event as it was happening. Not some after-the fact justification. Whether you think it was in bad taste or just dumb is one thing. I thought it was rather dumb. But it isn't some deliberate attempt to attack or offend a certain minority of Christians who get themselves wrapped around the axle about anything hinting of LGBT.



The following was posted as the scene was televised so it's not some post facto effort to weasel out of responsibility. Thomas Jolly, the artistic designer of the show, provided this explanation on French TV:

[The Last Supper] was not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious. There’s Dionysus arriving on a table. Why is he there? First and foremost because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology and the tableau is called "Festivity," He is also the god of wine, which is also one of the jewels of France, and the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine. The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.

This is a pretty detailed explanation. It's obviously not something you could make up on the spot.

And if you can't stomach the fact that the Olympics have pagan roots, don't watch. It is just sports and entertainment, nothing more.

[Valerie]

So, the Olympics either

(1) Blasphemes the Last Supper

If the tableau at the Paris Olympics was parodying The Last Supper, then what it is parodying isn't the Last Supper of the Bible, but rather a famous Italian artistic depiction. It does not honor God to treat a painting or an object as holy to the point of accusing a parody of that object as "blasphemous." A painting of Christ, even as seared into our collective consciousness as the The Last Supper, is not the Bible, God, or Jesus. It's not even an icon in the Roman Catholic tradition.

To treat an object as sacred to the point that parodying it is blasphemy is idolatry.

C'mon, they KNEW what they were doing.
Apparently leaders around the world were upset, advertisers pulling ads, - it was SUPPOSED to upset people, Satan hates the Church and whether The Lasy Supper is "just a painting" or not, they were well aware of what they were conveying

[Szdfan]

In your persistent loyalty to perverse values over Christianity, you are parsing the point to death, sorry so say.
Both the Olympic event and the painting, are depictions of a historic Biblical event where Jesus played the prominent role. The painting tried to honor the last supper. The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

I think some Christians are looking for reasons to feel offended, I'm sorry to say. I think this kind of outrage porn is also perverse to Christianity.

Maybe so, but you are awfully quick to carry water for seemingly every other perceived slight towards any DEI group. Try to be more evenhanded, how about? Try harder.

Offended or not, you are parsing this in a very weird way. I’m taking issue with your logic more than taking offense at the evil that France chose to do.

I can see that. I can also see how it might seem that I'm weirdly parsing this. I did jump into some rather esoteric stuff. I tend to overthink and parse pretty much everything to death. It's a part of how I function. I have a very busy brain.

I understand that someone might feel offended about the Paris tableau, especially if they didn't catch the references, but I also think calling the depiction "blasphemous" is also weird, because The Last Supper is parodied all the time in culture and most people don't get offended.









There are countless of examples that nobody really talks about. Are all of these parodies intended to disrespect Jesus and Christians or are they poking fun at the painting? What's the difference?

[QuietlyListening]

The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

Here is another way to look at this- food for thought. I saw this on Facebook and like I said- maybe another way to look at it.

"I’m a pastor, and I have something to say.
Christians that get online and spew hate toward nonbelievers anger me much more than nonbelievers spewing hate toward my religion.
I have no idea what the table at the Olympics was supposed to represent, as the official statement contradicts the larger opinion. But what I can say is that every single person at that table would have been invited to Jesus’ table. Jesus not only spent His time on earth with sinners, He invited them to the very table everyone assumes the Olympic table represents.
Matthew was a tax collector.
Peter was about to deny Him.
Thomas was about to doubt His resurrection.
Judas was about to betray Him.
Jesus ate with them anyway.
Jesus was with “sinners” all of the time. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the church people hated Him and wanted Him dead.
Please allow this to serve as a reminder that people who are not Christians are not our responsibility to regulate. Jesus gave us an example to follow of welcoming everyone and pointing them toward the love of Jesus. Remember that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, not the shouting of His angry “followers.”
This doesn’t mean I condone any religion (especially my own) being mocked. In fact, it is wrong. But my heart doesn’t hurt for what they are doing to Jesus. My heart hurts for people that are likely not in a loving relationship with their Creator. Jesus doesn’t need me to shout about sinners sinning. He wants me to shout about the hope and the love they are missing out on.
Before you share an angry post, or shout at people that Jesus died for, think for a while, and ask yourself if He would do the same. To be honest, you already know the answer. He wouldn’t. He didn’t. He died for them just as much as He died for you. Angrily shouting at people that don’t know Jesus is in direct contradiction to the example He gave us on the cross.
Westboro Baptist sandwich signs should anger you much more than this. Jesus flipped tables on people in the temple, not people outside of it. "

[Valerie]

In your persistent loyalty to perverse values over Christianity, you are parsing the point to death, sorry so say.
Both the Olympic event and the painting, are depictions of a historic Biblical event where Jesus played the prominent role. The painting tried to honor the last supper. The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

I think some Christians are looking for reasons to feel offended, I'm sorry to say. I think this kind of outrage porn is also perverse to Christianity.

Yes, it's another fake outrage fest. The sort of thing that makes young people think that conservative Christians are just humorless scolds.

This was the actual Paris Olympics live twitter feed coverage of the event as it was happening. Not some after-the fact justification. Whether you think it was in bad taste or just dumb is one thing. I thought it was rather dumb. But it isn't some deliberate attempt to attack or offend a certain minority of Christians who get themselves wrapped around the axle about anything hinting of LGBT.



The following was posted as the scene was televised so it's not some post facto effort to weasel out of responsibility. Thomas Jolly, the artistic designer of the show, provided this explanation on French TV:

[The Last Supper] was not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious. There’s Dionysus arriving on a table. Why is he there? First and foremost because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology and the tableau is called "Festivity," He is also the god of wine, which is also one of the jewels of France, and the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine. The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.

This is a pretty detailed explanation. It's obviously not something you could make up on the spot.

And if you can't stomach the fact that the Olympics have pagan roots, don't watch. It is just sports and entertainment, nothing more.

I'm surprised you fell for it Ken. As if they didn't do this on purpose just to stir the pot. Of course they had their explanation ready also for the purpose of trying to make Christians look bad. Satan is behind this "plan".
He knows his time is short so he is wreaking havoc on anything that is why, or lovers of holiness.

[temporal1]

C'mon, they KNEW what they were doing.
Apparently leaders around the world were upset, advertisers pulling ads, - it was SUPPOSED to upset people, Satan hates the Church and whether The Lasy Supper is "just a painting" or not, they were well aware of what they were conveying

The display aligns with the SOP / Standard Operating Procedure of unfettered self-centeredness and Pride in all matters.
If their greatest defense is claiming ignorance, so be it.

Regardless of beginnings, the athletes work very hard to compete, many coming from humble if not harsh backgrounds.
It’s sad these egomaniacs cannot ever control themselves in any situation.

Interesting, even life-changing, how The One True God modeled humility, not pride/Pride.

[Valerie]

The Olympics tried to dishonor the last supper.

Here is another way to look at this- food for thought. I saw this on Facebook and like I said- maybe another way to look at it.

"I’m a pastor, and I have something to say.
Christians that get online and spew hate toward nonbelievers anger me much more than nonbelievers spewing hate toward my religion.
I have no idea what the table at the Olympics was supposed to represent, as the official statement contradicts the larger opinion. But what I can say is that every single person at that table would have been invited to Jesus’ table. Jesus not only spent His time on earth with sinners, He invited them to the very table everyone assumes the Olympic table represents.
Matthew was a tax collector.
Peter was about to deny Him.
Thomas was about to doubt His resurrection.
Judas was about to betray Him.
Jesus ate with them anyway.
Jesus was with “sinners” all of the time. In fact, it’s one of the reasons the church people hated Him and wanted Him dead.
Please allow this to serve as a reminder that people who are not Christians are not our responsibility to regulate. Jesus gave us an example to follow of welcoming everyone and pointing them toward the love of Jesus. Remember that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance, not the shouting of His angry “followers.”
This doesn’t mean I condone any religion (especially my own) being mocked. In fact, it is wrong. But my heart doesn’t hurt for what they are doing to Jesus. My heart hurts for people that are likely not in a loving relationship with their Creator. Jesus doesn’t need me to shout about sinners sinning. He wants me to shout about the hope and the love they are missing out on.
Before you share an angry post, or shout at people that Jesus died for, think for a while, and ask yourself if He would do the same. To be honest, you already know the answer. He wouldn’t. He didn’t. He died for them just as much as He died for you. Angrily shouting at people that don’t know Jesus is in direct contradiction to the example He gave us on the cross.
Westboro Baptist sandwich signs should anger you much more than this. Jesus flipped tables on people in the temple, not people outside of it. "

Pastor wake up.
If you don't get why this vile behavior shouldn't be on display, in a world wide event that families are used to enjoy together without this indesent behavior, making a mockery- then you don't understand God.

Jesus spent time with sinners interested in repenting not mocking Him, there is such thing as righteous anger and they were well aware of it, Satan lives this and lives dividing the Church over such things.

Psalm 2

[Valerie]

C'mon, they KNEW what they were doing.
Apparently leaders around the world were upset, advertisers pulling ads, - it was SUPPOSED to upset people, Satan hates the Church and whether The Lasy Supper is "just a painting" or not, they were well aware of what they were conveying

It aligns with the SOP / Standard Operating Procedure of unfettered self-centeredness and Pride in all matters.
If their greatest defense is claiming ignorance, so be it.

Regardless of beginnings, the athletes work very hard to compete, many coming from humble if not harsh backgrounds.
It’s sad these egomaniacs cannot ever control themselves in any situation.

Interesting, even life-changing, how The One True God modeled humility, not pride/Pride.

People are naive if they buy into their story.
Satan is running.

Thinking back to Eric Liddel and Chariots of Fire.
He abstained from an important race because it was to be held on a Sunday- which his conviction was he shouldn't do that on the Lord's Day (he called it the Sabbath) so yes this is a far cry from family oriented ceremony.
Spiritual warfare. Get used to more to come