YouTuber Allen Parr recently answered the question, “Should Christians boycott the Olympics?” After a controversial Opening Ceremony in France, offended Christians are wondering what the best next steps are.
“Be careful not to push your own personal convictions on someone else and make it a law to say, ‘Because I feel this way, then all Christians should and everybody needs to join me,'” argued Parr.
Allen Parr Offers Christians Words of Wisdom as They Decide To Watch—Or Boycott—The Olympics
Allen Parr has offered his thoughts and biblical research on various life topics such as AI, false teachings, and Bible history via his YouTube channel, The B.E.A.T. (Biblical Encouragement And Truth).
This time, Parr didn’t take the time to record in his studio. Instead, he was standing outside of a local sandwich shop to record a quick thought before he grabbed lunch. Because Parr has provided thoughts on how Christians can navigate this fallen world well, he said people had already asked him whether they should boycott the Olympics.
During the 2024 Paris Opening Ceremony, drag performers gave a performance that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, “The Last Supper,” outraging Christians around the world, who took the performance as a mockery of their beliefs.
According to some reports, the opening ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, denied he had that painting in mind, saying the performance was rather a portrayal of pagan celebrations and Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. However, organizers of the Opening Ceremony have explicitly said that Jolly was indeed inspired by da Vinci’s painting and apologized for causing offense.
“Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps said in a public apology. Instead, the performance was attempting to display “community tolerance.”
Parr called boycotting “a slippery slope.” He explained that boycotting what “a few misguided people” do could lead to people canceling quite a few services and streaming apps and even quitting their jobs.
Just because a decision is made from the top of an organization “doesn’t mean that represents every single person in that organization,” Barr said. Barr argued that Christians often react to something that “mocks my faith and therefore throw the whole thing out.”
Instead, Parr said, it’s an “issue of conscience.” He referred to Ephesians 5:11, which states, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
“If you take that literally, then you’re not going to be able to take part in anything that’s going on in the world,” argued Parr.
He then went on to affirm those who are choosing to boycott the Olympics, but he included a caution as well.
