A reflective essay on the Last Supper as a farewell rather than the founding of a religion. Jesus underestimated the power of the social construct that sustains civilisation — and, like prophets before and after him, paid the price for his honesty.
For three centuries France and Britain have rebelled against religious authority, from Voltaire’s écrasez l’infâme to Nietzsche’s death of God and the modern satire of Private Eye and Le Canard enchaîné. Yet rebellion, once a weapon of liberation, has hardened into reflex. The challenge today is not to keep mocking but to recover conviction—before the state learns to silence even our laughter.