by Daoud Kuttab

first published in Word and Way

Growing up in an evangelical home and church, statues and other physical biblical symbols (except for the cross) were never part of the church décor. The first commandment stating that “You shall not make for yourself an idol” strictly prohibits the faithful from creating an idol of any kind. An idol is biblically defined as a created image used as an object of worship.

Therefore, I was surprised reading a statement by the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives calling a tableau during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics to be “shocking and insulting.” Speaker Mike Johnson said, “The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail.”

Speaker Johnson, who attends the Cypress Baptist Church in Benton, Louisiana, has been a staunch supporter of the Republican nominee whose words and actions he has never described as shocking and insulting.

I totally understood the criticism in many parts of the Middle East and the world. My Muslim friends were upset at what they perceived as an insult to Christianity, and on X (formerly Twitter), I read several Jews saying that they were upset about this insult to Christianity.

I did not see it that way.

The parody at the opening of the Olympics was seen and understood in diverse ways. CBS News correspondent Elaine Cobbe reported that “the specific part of the ceremony that offended was, in fact, a scene depicting Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.”

Nevertheless, the Olympic organizers said that they apologize if people felt insulted but “insisted that the opening ceremony did not depict Leonardo di Vinci’s Last Supper.”

While the Last Supper is an important part of Christianity, the artistic depiction by Leonardo Di Vinci is not. The image of the disciples crowding around a golden-haired and fair complexion bearded man representing the Western image of Jesus is certainly not a biblical symbol. Many artists have over the years used the image for different artistic purposes without it being seen as an insult to Christianity.

As a Palestinian Christian, I have often felt that defending symbolism can be a replacement for the practice of faith in action. When I read the quote by Johnson, my blood pressure went up as I had forever hoped that Bible-believing politicians, as Johnson calls himself, would use their faith to repeat the sermon on the mount called “Blessed are the peacemakers.” I was hopeful that biblical leaders would repeat the Old Testament prophet Amos’s cry “Let justice roll on like many waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing river.”

Johnson and his fellow right-wing Christian Nationalists seem to have forgotten the story of the good Samaritan and Jesus’s command to love our neighbors and even love our enemies.

Instead, we are inundated with images of Christian Zionists (whether evangelicals, the Johnson type, or Catholics the Biden type) and others, repeatedly giving standing ovations to an Israeli official charged with war crimes by the world’s top court, as well as corruption in Israel.

It is hard to understand how true Christians can provide blind support for a state that has been killing our people daily, including Christians in Gaza. Since October, Israeli revenge war has continued massacring humans created in the image of God on a daily basis and yet no one, including those who worship Him, is interested in truly stopping this carnage. American evangelicals, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, signed approvingly on Israeli rockets that are killing Palestinian and Lebanese people. Haley’s words on the rockets “finish them” are still hard to fathom. Johnson has yet to express any concern for the tens of thousands of civilian Palestinians, including three percent of Palestinian Christians, who have been killed by Israelis.

This scene during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, Friday, July 26, 2024, was meant to represent the Greek gods during a banquet, according to organizers. (Video screen grab)

In this week alone, Israel has admitted to blowing up water reservoirs and bombing schools. Israel has even destroyed the Gaza Baptist Church, yet none of this has made it on the speaker’s radar — although he worries about a performance at the Olympics. Defending the defenseless is what Christians must do rather than take offense to a “mockery” of a piece of art.

Speaker Johnson’s statement was also worrisome because of the smell of Christian Nationalism, or even Christian internationalism, in it. In our part of the world in the Middle East, we have suffered and continue to suffer from the merger of religion and politics. Many of us have been using the American separation of church and state as the model that we would love to see in our part of the world. And here we are seeing, especially with the ascent of Trump, the rise of White Christian Nationalism attempting to blur the lines between faith and governance. While the U.S. Constitution is revered by many for its rejection of a religious test for seekers of political office, we are unfortunately seeing an erosion of this important principle.

The Bible tells us exactly how to put our faith into action. In the Gospel of Mathew 25, Jesus gave a perfect example of what is needed from all people of faith. To feed the hungry, dress the naked, and visit the prisoner. In no place does Jesus talk about visiting an innocent prisoner but that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Few exceptions exist in organizations like Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) and others advocating for the sustainability of the church in the Middle East and demanding an end to the atrocities in Gaza. We call on the church in the United States to courageously rise and advocate for an end to violence, death, and destruction rather than focusing on policing international events from a position of moral superiority.

People around the world have a right to depict what they choose from public acts such as the opening scene of an international sporting event. But world leaders such as the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives should present an example of the true meaning of faith. Clutching onto religious symbols is often done instead of living out faith principles. What is needed now more than ever from our leaders, especially those claiming to be committed Christians, is to stand up for values such as the golden rule, peacemaking, loving our neighbors, caring for the needy, and defending the oppressed.

Daoud Kuttab is a Palestinian American journalist and former Ferris professor of Journalism at Princeton University, He is the publisher of Milhilard.org an online magazine focusing on Christians in Jordan and Palestine. Follow him on X @daoudkuttab and on Threads @daoud.kuttab.