Controversy brews over religious symbols at Olympic games
It turns out that religious controversies surrounding the Olympic Games began even before the opening ceremony. Brazilian surfer Joao Chianca discovered this when his surfboard, adorned with an image of Christ, was deemed a religious symbol. The athlete claimed he had to remove it to avoid being disqualified from the competition.
The story of the surfer is described on social media by the portal Diedsuddently. Joao Chianca shared it on his Instagram, but he eventually deleted it.
According to him, two weeks before the games, the Brazilian received an order to remove the image of Jesus Christ from his surfboard, or else he would be excluded from the competition.
Chianca commented in the now-deleted Instagram story that he is not authorized to place Jesus on his board because "Christ is a religious figure" and the "games have strict rules and focus on total neutrality."
Joao appears to have complied and is competing today, do you believe he should have stood his ground and dropped out? - ask the authors of a post on portal X.
Although religious neutrality is indeed part of the games' rules, many people point out that this rule is inconsistent with what was shown during the opening ceremony. "They violated their own rules," wrote one internet user.
