The Olympics… A Call to Resistance

The following was presented by Dave Diewert at our most recent Reading the Text / Reading the World evening:

The Olympic Games constitute a key mechanism among a whole array of political and economic strategies for shaping our desires and leading us along in the relentless pursuit of comfort, security and power. It is a spectacular demonstration of the triumph of capitalism with its imperatives of competition and consumption, and the reaffirmation of state power in guaranteeing public order and security, all wrapped in the mezmerizing distraction of sport and entertainment. It celebrates the supremacy of corporate and state power under the guise of a benign athletic event of global cooperation. It is a remarkably effective tool for deepening our ideological entrapment in a system of power that is the antithesis of the kingdom of God announced by Jesus and the way of the cross. In this sense, the Olympics are analogous to the what the devil offered Jesus in the wilderness.

While there are no doubt many reasons for critical opposition to the Olympics, here are five that warrant careful consideration...

Click here for a pdf file of the complete presentation.

Dave then went on to juxtapose the Olympics against Jesus and the Wilderness Temptations.

Click here for a pdf file of the text (Matthew 4:1-11)

Click here for a pdf file of Scriptural Reflections