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One moment in the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris clearly touched a nerve: the tableau of mostly drag queens believed to be parodying Da Vinci\u2019s \u2018Last Supper\u2019. Organisers have since denied this was the intention and apologised for the offense caused. Many commentators, including non-believers, declared it \u201cblasphemous\u201d, and \u201ca denigration of Western culture\u201d. While others, Christians among them, considered that response to be an over-reaction. \n \nStepping back from the immediate and perhaps predicable outrage drawn along culture war lines, is the deeper question of what we consider to be \u2018sacred\u2019 and \u2018profane\u2019 in a largely secular Western society.\n \nWhat, if anything, is sacred? Does the idea only make sense in relation to the concept of God? Does it have a moral function or is it more about personal spirituality? Maybe nothing is sacred, since categorising something as such puts it beyond scrutiny? Or can the concept be widened, even secularised, to take in, for example, the idea of \u2018profaning\u2019 the natural world or hollowing out the things we hold to be of value by turning them into commercial transactions? \n \nAre the concepts of \u2018sacred\u2019 and \u2018profane\u2019 still important? And if so, what role do they have in the 21st century?

Producer: Dan Tierney\nAssistant producer: Ruth Purser

Panel:\nAnne McElvoy\nGiles Fraser\nAsh Sarkar\nTim Stanley

Witnesses:\nMelanie McDonagh\nAndrew Copson\nFergus Butler-Gallie\nFrancis Young