An “If Sorry”
for the Paris Insult
Reflections on Offense,
Forgiveness, and Apology
An apology
of sorts has followed the presentation of The Lord’s Supper – Dionysius mash up
trans-tableau at the 2024 Paris Olympics. I look at the apology and how
Christian groups responded.
The Offense
If the artistic
expression was designed to evoke a powerful emotional response, then it was a
highly effective work. Christians responded with strong emotions revealing
disgust and the common sidekick, anger in the form of verbal outrage. But other
Christians responded in different ways.
The
Apology
The
Guardian headline for 28 July reads:
“Paris
Olympics organisers apologise to Christians for Last Supper Parody.”
I scanned
the text for the apology with keen interest. Did they include the elements of
apology psychologists have found effective? My students and I had studied
forgiveness and apologies so I knew a bit about what seems to work. So, what
did these creative French folks have to say? [Read about Effective Apologies]
Following
is a quote from The Guardian.
***
The
committee was forced to apologise after the performance caused outrage among
Catholics, Christian groups and conservative politicians around the world.
“Clearly
there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The
opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance,” the Paris 2024
spokesperson Anne Descamps told a press conference. “We believe this ambition
was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry.”
***
That’s it?
An if?
OMG. Didn’t
they read the papers? There’s no “if!”
So,
psychologically speaking, that’s not a very effective apology.
Unlike
their art, their apology is not likely to evoke a powerful wave of forgiveness.
***
Psychology of Forgiveness and Other Responses
The response of Christians to the evocative presentation was
divided. Perspective-taking and interpretation were evident in the language
assigned to varied emotions. Christians revealed themselves. Some early
thoughts.
Table-turners
The anger-outrage group seemed to get the most press and like-based
circulation on social media. Fair enough. It’s easy to see the scene as an
insult or even a mockery. Disgust is a powerful emotion that drives action to
rid oneself of germ-infested stuff and warn others of the filth. I call this
group the table-turners. They recall Jesus’ anger in The Temple—Stop it! Unfortunately,
as they published the offensive images again and again, they cannot be unseen.
Cross-carriers
But. Yes, there’s a but. Some Christians responded with a
call for others to respond with love and forgiveness. The forgivers remind
their readers of Jesus’ forgiveness response as he was dying upon the cross.
They did not wait for an apology. They did not wait for repentance.
Cross-carriers have a forgiving personality. I could call them 490 forgivers –that’s
70 x 7 for those who know the scriptures about forgiveness. I refer to this
as a forgiving personality because the idea is like a trait of forgiveness that
enables the offended to respond to insults with forgiveness rather than another
behaviour pattern like aggression.
[Read more about forgiveness.]
Gatherers
Some Christians considered what the presentation might
reveal about the needs of the people. They noted the words of the organisers
and the vitriol of the outraged and saw the different ways people interpreted
the disturbing imagery. Whilst not ignoring what others wrote, they have a
heart of compassion. Missionary minded Christians call for compassion for the
lost who would create such a tableau as if they were reaching in some way to
find the true Jesus. The gatherers see France as a giant mission field
ready for planters and harvesters.
Carers
Some Christians focused on the way Jesus welcomed those on
the margin of society. Transpersons would be welcomed at their Jesus’ table. They
remember the story of the Good Samaritan and they remember the way so many of
their fellow believers insulted and mocked gay men as effeminate and how they
passed laws permitting physical punishment and incarceration of those who identified
as gay or lesbian. And carers notice the way contemporary Christians
treat transpersons with disrespect and pass laws as if being a transperson was
some sort of transmittable disease that could infect their heterosexual
children.
Reflections
I don’t like placing people in rigid categories so I wonder
if Christians could experience a mix of responses with only one or two rising
to the surface. And if one or two response patterns are better than another
perhaps people could cultivate a different response pattern as surely they
would like to be more like the one they follow.
There's a bit of a fuss about the tableau reflecting a pagan party to the gods of Olympus vs. the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of the Lord's Supper. One example of this can be found in Seth's report (Washington Post, 2024, July 28). Frankly, from a psychological perspective, a work of art loses the control of the creator once it is made public. In effect, the art work becomes what the perceiver experiences. In addition, the words of the artists about their work may be considered but do not necessarily reflect all the influences on their behavior that produce the artistic expression and thus should not be given more weight than the interpretation of the one perceiving the work.
References
Guardian (The) (2024, June 28). Paris Olympics organisers apologise to Christians for Last Supper parody. Retrieved from The Guardian
Jordan, K., Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Sutton, G. W. (2013). Promoting forgiveness toward Christians by LGBTQ respondents using apology and perspective-taking. Journal of Christianity and Psychology, 32, 99-114. ResearchGate Link
Seth, A. A. (2024, July 28). Paris Olympics organizers sorry for Last Supper at Opening Ceremonies. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/07/28/paris-olympics-apology-last-supper/
Sutton, G. W. (2010).
The Psychology of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Restoration: Integrating
Traditional and Pentecostal Theological Perspectives with Psychology. In M.
Mittelstadt & G. W. Sutton (eds). Forgiveness,
reconciliation, and restoration: Multidisciplinary studies from a Pentecostal
perspective. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications. http://wipfandstock.com/author/view/detail/id/11609/
Thomas, E. K., & Sutton, G.W. (2008). Religious leadership failure: Forgiveness, apology, and restitution. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 10, 308-327. Research Gate Link
Thomas, E. K., White, K., & Sutton, G.W. (2008). Religious leadership failure: Apology, responsibility-taking, gender, forgiveness, and restoration. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 27, 16-29. Research Gate Link
Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com
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