RMC Briefing: Olympics and Religion

07/31/24 • 53 min

For a secular country hosting the 33rd Olympic Games, France finds itself dealing with religion dominating the headlines. The controversial tableau in the rain-swept opening ceremony depicting the Last Supper (or was it the Festival of Dionysius) with drag queens and a woman comedian wearing a crown, widely seen as representing Jesus, caused anger among the French Catholic bishops and conservative Christians across the globe.

Then there was the silver for British swimmer Adam Peaty, who recovered his Olympics spirit with the help of a Christian spiritual adviser - the Olympics has more than 100 chaplains from five world religions. And there is continuing disquiet among French female athletes forbidden from wearing the hijab.

In this briefing, our panel discusses all these stories and what they say about the understanding of laïcité - the separation of church and state - in France.

Ruth Peacock hosted with a panel:

Dr Graham Daniels, General Director, Christians in Sport
Carolyn Skinner, Sports Chaplaincy UK
Elise Ann Allen, Senior Correspondent for Crux in Rome
Catherine Pepinster, journalist in the UK
Prof Jocelyne Cesari, French political scientist and Islamic studies scholar
Dr Jenny Uzzell, researcher on pagan studies
Rev Robert Thompson, on The Last Supper

For more information on RMC briefings: [email protected]

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709

In this briefing, our panel discusses all these stories and what they say about the understanding of laïcité - the separation of church and state - in France.

Ruth Peacock hosted with a panel:

Dr Graham Daniels, General Director, Christians in Sport
Carolyn Skinner, Sports Chaplaincy UK
Elise Ann Allen, Senior Correspondent for Crux in Rome
Catherine Pepinster, journalist in the UK
Prof Jocelyne Cesari, French political scientist and Islamic studies scholar
Dr Jenny Uzzell, researcher on pagan studies
Rev Robert Thompson, on The Last Supper

For more information on RMC briefings: [email protected]

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709

Previous Episode

RMC Briefing: The swearing in ceremony for MPs united a richly diverse intake around a sacred oath

The three-day swearing in ceremony for MPs in the new parliament has proved a remarkably popular watch, with the oath of allegiance to the King spoken in English, Welsh, Scottish, Gaelic, Irish and Kernewek, on a wide variety of texts including the Bible, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Sundar Gutka, Tanakh - and none.

The latest tally of MPs’ religious affiliations, outside Christianity, is 12 Sikh, 25 Muslim, 9 Hindu and 14 Jewish. Humanists UK says 40 per cent took an affirmation without swearing on a sacred text - that leaves almost 60 per cent taking the oath on some version of the Bible. But to add confusion, not all religiously affiliated MPs swore on their holy book and at least one known atheist and eight humanists swore on the Bible.

How is religion part of the sacred oath of allegiance, where MPs promise to "be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law"? And is the solemn oath, with whatever words, sufficient to secure basic honesty and trust among our MPs? Leo Devine watched practically every second of the ceremony and discussed the story with guests Paul Kerensa, retired Clerk at the Commons Frank Cranmer, and theologian Sister Gemma Simmonds.

For more information on RMC briefings and podcasts: [email protected]

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709

Next Episode

RMC Briefing: The wave of riots and impact on British Muslims

Violent thuggery in more than 20 towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland has targeted British Muslims, who are now in fear for their lives. Mosques have been attacked, hotels with asylum seekers have been surrounded by protesters, shops with Muslim owners have been ransacked or burned, and areas with high immigrant populations have been vandalised with cars overturned and torched, and bricks hurled through windows as families sat inside. Children as young as 14 have been arrested and many people have already been charged and imprisoned.

In this RMC briefing, more than 20 community leaders from all parts of England tell their stories of riots, fear and distress, appeal for support to re-create stability, and express their anger that people outside the towns had come in to organise the trouble. They are shocked at the scale and ferocity of the attacks and while clean-up operations prove there is goodwill, there is also uncertainty over how to restore confidence among Muslims who are too afraid to leave their homes.

Hosted by Ruth Peacock, guests were Zara Mohammed, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain; and Phil Champain, Director of the Faith and Belief Forum. Community leaders joined from Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol, Bradford, Middlesborough and Plymouth.

For further information on RMC briefings: [email protected]

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709