Taking offence at the Olympics?

Images can easily cause offence. An image doesn't provide its own explanation so we have to interpret the image and that room for interpretation provides space not only for awe, inspiration and joy, but also for outrage and hurt.

During the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, dancers created an image that has been interpreted in very different ways.

As soon as the image had appeared on our screens, the group montage was winging its way round the internet cropped against a strikingly similar image of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.

And just as quickly the outrage machine kicked into top gear. I won't recount the list of figures who condemned the scene, although they were led by the Catholic Church in France, who condemned "scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity". The general sentiment was that the organisers were 'mocking' Christianity by subverting a serious theological reflection on a vital moment in the life of Christ. No doubt the inclusion of drag artists in the group created a particular point of friction for conservative voices in the Church. But it wasn't only traditionalists who were upset.

The organisers had quite a different take, however. They tweeted that the image was in fact a representation of the Greek God Dionysus at a feast and was making a point about the essential unity of humanity. 

Other internet users urged the Christian community to calm down as the image was a play on any number of renaissance paintings which show feasts centred around Dionysus, noting that da Vinci's Last Supper is not housed in France but in Italy and that the feast of Dionysus relates to the Greek culture from which the Olympics originates. It was notable that the cropped images that appeared to cause most offence omited the blue figure of Dionysus in the center of the banquet scene.

The damage was already done for the Olympic organisers, however, so they quickly apologised.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry.”

The fuss will now (hopefully) die down as quickly as it arose, so in the aftermath Mouse asks whether we should be offended by this sort of thing. Whether the organisers intended it or not (and Mouse does not think they did) there was certainly more than a passing resemblance to the scene in the Da Vinci's Last Supper and the cast in the Olympic ceremony certainly appeared to be subverting that image. To that extent, the apology is welcome and should be taken in good faith.

Putting aside whether the offence was accidental or not, we should reflect on whether offence is a healthy reaction at all. Mouse's first reaction was disappointment that a secular group would consider this sort of thing funny. While Mouse does not think that was the intention, it felt plausible and perhaps that was the reason for the rapid response. 

Many argued that no other religion would face this sort of mockery, which means they have never seen The Book of Mormon musical or heard of the publication Charlie Hebdo. The reason Christianity faces more criticism in the UK and the West is because it has been the dominant cultural force for over 1,000 years. It underpins every corner of our society and culture so anyone looking for cultural change will find some aspect of that Christian legacy it can push back on.

What was perhaps more notable was that the secular anthem 'Imagine' by John Lennon was played at the start of the Olympic opening ceremony which features famous lines including 'Imagine there's no heaven' and 'Imagine there's no countries; It isn't hard to do; Nothing to kill or die for; And no religion, too'.

Shouting loudly how offensive one part of the ceremony missed a much bigger point. The central unifying ethic of the Olympic Games (according to its organisers, at least) is one of the equality of all peoples and nations, centred around the noble pursuit of sport in a fully inclusive way. Politics and religions should stay out. When reaching for a vision for a better world where people live in peace and harmony, they found an anthem that argued this better world would come with the death of religion. 

And people all round the world celebrated that. The Christian perspective, that our equality is grounded in our equality before God and that true freedom comes from a relationship with Jesus is losing out, not least as much of the church does its very best to give the impression that some people are more equal than others.

The Olympic opening ceremony served up a sugar-coated anti-religious festival and a secular religion of equality, diversity and inclusivity. Outside religious circles the reaction to the scene showing the feast of Dionysus that caused so much offence was one of confused shoulder shrugging at a strange blue guy on a plate of fruit. But when John Lennon's tune started, the reaction was to sing along. 

The Church can wonder whether they should have been angry or not. To Mouse, all the argument did was demonstrate in vivid technicolour the cultural gulf that has opened up between the Church and wider society. The gulf is not an essential one. The vision of equality and diversity is in fact one grounded in the Christian belief that God loves all His children equally. But too often you just wouldn't know it.