While the fallout from the strange scenes of the Olympics’ opening ceremony continues to play out – the BBC’s latest Moral Maze focused on the question of whether anything is sacred any longer – the call from the French Bishops Conference to move on from “the outrageousness and provocation” and to revel in the magnificence and “delight” offered by sport seems to be occurring.
At the same time, though, it’s notable that a religious streak has unexpectedly marked these Olympics, one that’s very much at odds with the highly anti-Christian moments of that opening ceremony, and at odds with the French principle of “laïcité” state secularism that is meant to keep religion out of the public picture.
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