The quadrennial Olympic celebration of athletic prowess is well underway in Paris, but one of the biggest talking points has not been about the amazing feats in the world of sport, but a misunderstood interpretation of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. For most people, this was nothing more than an artistic display paying homage to the Greek origins of the Olympics. Sadly though, it was conservative Christians who went ballistic after seeing it. Blasphemy they cried. Christianity is under attack the loudly and vehemently proclaimed. How could they profane the “Last Supper” with drag queens they asked. That was the worst Opening Ceremony ever they proclaimed. In so doing, these misguided Christian culture warriors did absolutely nothing to present Christianity in any sort of positive light. Instead, because of their ignorance, they made Christians look silly, uniformed, and foolish with their ludicrous cries of outrage at Christianity being “persecuted.” And, the worst Opening Ceremony in history by the way was hosted by Nazi Germany with Nazi fascism on full display in Berlin.

To begin with, the scene depicted was not Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, so there was literally no reference made to Christianity at all. None of the imagery referenced the Bible, or the Christian faith. That said, even if it had been a depiction of the Last Supper, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with drag queens sitting around the table. For crying out loud, Jesus broke bread with Judas that night according to the Gospels. Jesus welcomed everyone to his presence. Dressing in drag is just a way to be creative. It’s not a sinful act just because some people interpret drag in that way. One can simply choose not to go to drag shows or watch anything drag related on TV. There’s no reason whatsoever to rail against it, ban it, or proclaim it to be something satanic.

While all of this manufactured selective outrage was happening, those same conservative Christians were choosing to ignore the continuing genocide in Gaza and brutal occupation of the West Bank. The so-called faux life Christians choose to ignore the deaths of thousands and thousands of children through Israel’s use of destructive weapons, bombing hospitals and refugee camps, and withholding food and water from Gaza. In the U.S., a career criminal whose crimes include rape, sexual assault, and convictions for 34 felonies is running for President with a large number of Christians who ignore and support his platform of racism, misogyny, xenophobia, wealth hoarding, rigging the political system, and pathological lying. They ignore that Trump spouts the propaganda of a murderous Russian oligarch who is engaged in an illegal war against Ukraine. American children are routinely killed by guns yet these same Christians are silent or simply take the side of those who turn guns into an idol. Despite all of Christ’s teachings about peace and nonviolent resistance, the culture war Christians ignore the fact that instead of having universal health care and other programs of social uplift that would benefit millions of people, the American government instead spends almost $880 BILLION on maintaining the military-industrial complex and waging war. In short, their selective outrage has conservative Christians getting mad about made up issues while they completely ignore the plight of the poor, the children, and anyone whom Jesus would call the least of these.

Spare me your manufactured anger. Spare me your illegitimate righteous indignation. Spare me your vapid worship of the flag, the guns, the GOP, and the arbitrary border. The shallow superficial faith that those who are angry about the Opening Ceremony have is precisely the kind of nonsense that Hebrew Bible prophets and Jesus preached against. Those are precisely the kind of people Jesus proclaimed to be charlatans or dens of vipers. It’s a shallow faith because they apparently believe in a tiny God that needs to be defended by human beings engaged in culture wars. If God is asking for help at all, it is the kind of help that shows true love of neighbor. It’s the kind of help that shows God’s love and care for all humanity, that welcomes the stranger, provides comfort for the grieving, houses the unhoused, feeds the hungry, wages peace, and speaks truth to the powerful. If Christians did those things, if they loved their neighbors as their selves, there would be far fewer people ridiculing Christians, and far more hope in a dark world.

A new command I give to you. Love as I have loved. — Jesus (John 13:34)