The New Bad Deal by Robert Socha

The New Deal, which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt enacted in the 1930s to assuage the angst of the Great Depression, promised “a chicken in every pot” and posited short-term relief. In the long run, however, it led the federal government to take an extraconstitutional central role in providing for the people’s economic and social affairs. One of the catastrophic results of D.C.’s funding philanthropic ideals is the Church withdrawing from its role in national charity and the people looking to the government as their lord and provider.

Another way the Church has strayed from its original charter to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” is by becoming a place for entertainment and counsel, not simply to Believe and be baptized. The Gospel message that Believing that God raised Christ from the dead grafts us into the Vine has softened to the point of irrelevance and sacrilege.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Olympic Games’ blasphemous opening ceremony. Not only did the theatre mock the judgment of the Revelation of John by having death ride across the field on a white horse, mimicking one of the four horses of the apocalypse introduced in Revelation 6 who usher in the reign of the antichrist, but they intentionally insulted everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord through the gross hedonistic recreation of one of the most important paintings in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. No amount of backpedaling or apology can supersede the destructiveness of such a debauched display of lewd perversion.

A production of this magnitude does not come about by chance or happenstance. It is a deliberate orchestration that culminates years of planning, choreographing, casting, practicing, and finally displaying for all the world to see. I am confident that many agencies were involved, and all approved. Shame on them for their despicable and deliberate ignorance of the obscene display’s embarrassing offense.

While explaining his decision to embark on such a provocative display, the opening ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, defended the actions by stating, “Our idea was inclusion. Naturally, when we want to include everyone and not exclude anyone, questions are raised. Our subject was not to be subversive. We never wanted to be subversive. We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.” Bologna. The man boldly lied in his immediate defense. He does not want to include everybody. He wants to subvert Christian culture and for Christians, in particular, to acquiesce to his version of diversity, which especially embraces the sexual perversion that Scripture adamantly condemns. This New Deal presented to the Church is something we must continually oppose without shame or apology.

Notably, the display rightly angered many Believers, who expressed their displeasure in no uncertain terms. Still, many others have come to its defense and tried to explain away the offensive parallel to Da Vinci, noting its similarity to a Pagan celebration. Either way, it should not be an acceptable practice, especially not one highlighted in the opening ceremony of a worldwide celebration of discipline and athleticism. I believe the Church’s waning philanthropic outreach and withdrawal from the political scene 80 years ago culminated in these debauched displays and gave rise to the celebration of perversion.

The Lord said in Malachi 3:7, ” Return to me, and I will return to you.” Suppose we were to return to the simplicity of the Gospel, to be saved by faith, a gift of God, and learn how to abide in Christ. In that case, when the offense comes to such terrible displays, we can model for the world the proper response, expressing our displeasure while denouncing the practice. We can remain in Christ (John 15:4), returning to a heart of worship. Maybe that will help us in our pursuit and allow us to overcome all the fiery darts the enemy of our souls fires to quench the Spirit and subvert the Gospel. Let us return to a heart of worship in the face of evil and watch chains fall, prison doors open, and the oppressed set free!