I'm a Christian, and I was not offended.

Event.
Misplaced outrage.
Correction.
Misinformation.
Further outrage.
Rinse.
Repeat.

It's tiring being an observer to this predictable cycle on endless repeat. While I don't feel the need to respond to many of these cycles, this one feels important.

Let's review the timeline so we're all caught up to speed.

1. The Olympics Opening Ceremony happens
2. The Olympics live tweet the ceremony, explaining the Greek god Dionysus
3. Christians mistake this scene for Leonardo da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper
4. Christians assume offense and become outraged
5. Paris 2024 releases a statement apologizing for any hurt feelings, but explain that the scene was not inspired by The Last Supper but by Dionysus
6. Christians only read the headline and take this statement as an "admission." When corrected, they strain their shoulders in the reach they make to "prove" it was inspired by The Last Supper, claiming one of the actors confirmed it (they didn't).
7. Rinse
8. Repeat

We have the facts readily available to us. The artistic director stated that the scene was not inspired by The Last Supper. 

(I can't speak to those that continue to plug their ears and feign persecution.)

But setting aside the facts... why such outrage? I was puzzled.

I put on my evangelical thinking cap and did my best to put myself in the mindset of these Christians.

Some of the claims aren't even worth refuting — like claims that this scene sexualized children. To anyone who actually watched the scene, let alone those who have cultural context for what is being displayed, these claims aren't even hyperbole, they're just false.

I kept seeing accusations that the ceremony mocked Christians — something I heard often growing up about any number of things, including solid red cups at Starbucks.

But how was this mocking Christians?

And then it clicked: these Christians do not believe queer, trans people, and drag queens — being fully themselves — have a seat at the Lord's table.

This should be unsurprising, but having been removed from this culture for a while now and having experienced a huge perspective shift, I was left outraged.

In evangelicalism, we're gaslit by being told that Christians love queer people while we watch with our own eyes how they refuse to acknowledge their humanity unless they conform to a specific gender and sexual ethic.

That's not love.

Growing up, I was taught that there was only one true form of Christianity and it just so happened to be that I was in. We had the answers. While other churches or denominations might get close, they still fell short somewhere.

Among the required beliefs were things like biblical inerrancy, the Trinity, dispensationalism, literal 6-day creation, complementarianism, no sex before marriage, and of course, a non-affirming stance on LGBTQ individuals.

It took me way too long to learn that historical Christianity as well as Christianity that is practiced all around the world today...doesn't fit this ideal. And it's not because they're all hopeless heathens either. American evangelicalism does not speak for all, despite the attitude of superiority I so often witnessed.

American evangelicalism has become a particular kind of evil that honestly scares me. They will outrage over the weirdest things and yet stay silent when it comes to abuse in the church, unchecked pride and narcissism in church leadership, the shaming and silencing of victims in the church, and their messiah-like worship of a certain political figure...to name a few. They will bend over backwards trying to downplay or flat out ignore the sick actions of their own while outraging over... the opening ceremony for the Olympics? ... an event that is rooted in Greek mythology?

That is mocking God? While there is silence on these other issues?

It feels like a bad TV ad: but wait, there's more. Maybe they feel uncomfy calling out their own. I mean, that's exactly what Paul said to do, and they love the words of Paul for other things, but okay. Fine. There are plenty of non-church related things to outrage over, too, and yet there's silence: the brutal murder of Sonya Massey by police, the laws being passed to force religion on children in schools while refusing funding for school lunches and... I don't know, the horrific abuse and executions happening to children being used as pawns in Gaza?

The outrage is performative. While they might say they care about children and not mocking God, their actions don't line up. Why? Because their political conservativism is so intertwined with their religion that, in their minds, to critique the conservativism is to insult God.

They can't say anything about Sonya because then it might seem like they align with Black Lives Matter or CRT — two other things that have received undue outrage.

They can't critique the Ten Commandments being put in classrooms because, "Is that really such a bad thing?" and they misapply the Bible when they recite "those who don't work won't eat," so children are left to starve.

And they can't say anything against Israel because they buy into dispensationalism — which wasn't a prominent belief until the 1850s — so they believe this war is providence rather than an atrocity and downplay the reality, further spurred on by Republicans doing the same thing.

So when I see Christians outraged over something like the opening ceremony of the Olympics, it's extremely difficult to take them seriously.

If you're reading this and believe that the depicted scene did in fact mock God, I'm not going to be able to change your mind. Your heart is not ready to hear.

So, my response in all of this is to say: I am a Christian and this does not offend me. I am a Christian and I don't believe this mocks God. In fact, I was somewhat disappointed that it turned out to not be about The Last Supper, because LGBTQ+ people gathering around the Lord's table seems pretty Jesus-like to me.

I'm not the only one. American evangelicals talk so loudly that the mass of us affirming Christians aren't heard. But we are here. We believe strongly that LGBTQ+ individuals have full humanity just as they are. We believe that their genders and sexualities are neither choices nor sin. We believe God loves them because God loves them.

I don't think I've ever met a fiercely affirming Christian who hadn't also fiercely studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus to find an answer to this topic. Affirming Christians aren't "compromising" or "ignoring Scripture" when they say they are affirming. If you ask, I'm sure they would gladly point you to some carefully studied resources on the topic. My personal recommendation is God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines. Affirming Christians are often aghast that other Christians do not want to seriously contend with the objections to being non-affirming, especially because they often tout themselves as "truth-seekers."

If this were a depiction of the Lord's supper, which we know it wasn't, but if it was, we need to understand that someone demonstrating their beliefs does not mean they are mocking yours or your god.

In summary: fact check. Be consistent in your outrage. And please learn what it truly means to love people — even if it means renouncing a few long-held beliefs. It's okay. You won't be alone.