The Olympic opening ceremonies took flak for their mockery of the Last Supper, the organizers apparently thinking that made them look edgy and brave. But as Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, Roman Catholic priest as well as an opinion columnist, wrote in the National Post, if they really wanted to prove their mettle as blasphemers they should have gone after actual religion of the world’s elite: “The most fashionable religion of the Olympic elites… is climate change. Their faith has its own high priests, moral codes, heretics and public sinners.” In devotion to which the organizers broadcast pieties about the greenest games ever, medals from recycled metal, the absence of air conditioning or chauffeured vans and limousines for competitors, and the presence of stiff cardboard beds to sleep on and a mainly vegan menu. To the point at which the athletes began to pine for the old gods, especially as the organizers were secretly still indulging heathen pleasures.

The Puritanism was laid on thick. If mere athletes walked instead of using even carbon-belching public transit, “Walkers would not be given sinful water bottles in the searing heat; they must have their own container to ward off dehydration.”

And the result was certainly problematic:

“The athletes have been seeing red over all the green. They can’t sleep well due to hard beds and hot rooms. They can’t get the protein they need from the menu. They can’t get to the venues without tiring from the trip.”

If it was a preview of the Green New Deal, once again, it seems not to have been the Garden of Eden we were promised. Indeed of virtually no tree shall we eat, save the one that produces tofu.

But for the would-be backsliders, Canada’s state-funded CBC was ready with hellfire and brimstone, warning that “Athletes have a ferocious new opponent: climate change”. The piece spoke of heat on a tennis court in Tokyo, and another on an urban street (race walking) that had to be moved out of the city due to… uh… the Urban Heat Island effect? Also, of course, with this year’s Games in France, “Europe is warming faster than other continents” just like every place is warming faster than every other. Additional issues involve “fires, floods, melting”. Though if you were looking for an opening parade of actual high-performance data showing that any of these things are getting worse, you were of course in the wrong stadium altogether.

Instead they interviewed some activist saying “we’re having more heat waves than ever before” which is a claim as free of data as of statistical sophistication, since the time needed for a signal to emerge from the noise as to whether heat waves, however defined, are becoming more common is longer than we have thermometer (or satellite) records for most of the world. But no contrary views or facts were allowed into the arena. Instead the herd of independent minds was off like a shot, with The Economist also running with this wacky notion that zealots denying athletes air-conditioning units in their rooms was proof of climate change not inanity.

As Marc Morano of Climate Depot pointed out, it was meant to be a test case. He quoted a Euro News story about how the British team flew out a chef to help them (and when the British are complaining about the food you know there’s an issue) that contained this classic passage:

“The European Vegetarian Union (EVU) welcomed the Food Vision’s emphasis on plant-based options and local sourcing. ‘This is an opportunity to showcase to millions of people that plant proteins are a better alternative for the planet and can also support athletic performance,’ EVU policy manager Rafael Pinto told Euronews.”

Or to prove the opposite in the full floodlit glare of international publicity. But actually we were getting ahead of ourselves. What we just cited wasn’t the weird bit, though normally it would qualify. The weird bit is that this penance was not imposed upon the high priests nor among certain privileged members of the congregation:

“The priestly caste is in luxury hotels, with air-conditioned rooms and chauffeured cars. Special indulgences are granted to the favoured. LeBron James and his fellow NBA players and the stars of international tennis are not in the Olympic Village.”

As Fr. de Souza pointed out, we’re used to the high rollers of climate alarmism jetting into conferences “emitting carbon like great clouds of incense” to preach stale sermons then depart again in style having saved no degrees. So:

“after the jaw-dropping hypocrisy of the latest climate conference being held in Dubai, perhaps Paris deserves a pass. Except that this hypocrisy is especially galling. The high metabolism athletes get faux burgers, while the corpulent executives gaze at menus featuring meats flown in from overseas, or graze at buffets groaning with caloric excess. Those in need are denied while their betters may indulge.”

Amazing. Gold in hypocrisy as well as hyperbole. What a performance. The audience goes wild.