Questioning freedom of speech: Critique at Paris Olympics opening
German media mostly wrote positively about the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris. "Die Welt" speculates whether the director of the Paris performance would dare to mock Islam.
"Whoever criticizes Christianity is now considered modern and enlightened. However, it is better to abstain from mocking Islam. This attitude could once again be observed during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. One belittles one's culture to celebrate what is foreign," Jacques Schuster writes on the daily "Die Welt" website.
Christianity is the only religion in the West that can be mocked at will, as could be observed during the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris, continues the commentator.
The author clarified that he was not outraged by the performance's "colourful tastelessness," which he compared to the Last Supper, which sparked extreme public reactions in various countries.
It is worth noting, however, that in response, the organizers of the Games' opening ceremony apologized to Catholics and representatives of other Christian denominations. The artistic director of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, emphasized that he was not mocking Christianity but referencing ancient Greece, the birthplace of the Games and the idea of Olympism, through the figure of Dionysus. He stated that Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" was not an inspiration here.
It is necessary to ask: Was there a conscious decision to avoid mentioning other religious figures or ideologies?
"Would he dare to present Muhammad in this way?"
"Watching the ceremony, I only asked myself whether the director would dare to present the Prophet Muhammad as a naked, non-binary Martian dancing under the Eiffel Tower," writes Schuster.
He believes freedom of speech and tolerance have been understood "extremely one-sidedly" for some time. He continues, "Criticism of the Christian faith is considered a sign of modernity stemming from the Enlightenment era, while the tendency to mock Islam should rather be limited."
Schuster notes that a similar problem exists with racism, which is condemned unless directed against white people. According to the author, white people are "diminished" because "other skin colours are celebrated, to which all possible valuable qualities are ascribed."
"These customs can be explained by self-hatred and also a guilty conscience rooted in Europe's colonial past," writes the commentator for Die Welt. This leads to a love for the foreign and others and to "mandatory solidarity with all humanity, except for one's own culture."
