Tag Archives: Tim Tebow

The Arrogance of Tebowing

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This story is getting reported a lot today.

The Global Language Monitor website says it acknowledges that the word Tebowing — the act of taking a knee in prayer during an athletic contest — is now part of the English language.
In today’s online world, that’s practically the equivalent of gaining acceptance to Webster’s Dictionary.
—Tom Weir, USA Today, 12-12-2011

It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say that being mentioned on the site is practically the same as being accepted into Webster’s Dictionary, but whatever, that’s not what I want to comment on in this entry.
Instead I want to comment on the phenomenal arrogance of Tim Tebow and so many in sports, entertainment, politics and public life. People of talent should be grateful they have it, and it is well and good that they give thanks. But there is a very big difference between that and praying for victory, pointing to the heavens after scoring, or giving God thanks in a victory speech. Does God really care who wins the Grammy for Best Rap Album or who carries the ball over the line in last Sunday’s game?
Thanking God for such personal achievements is tantamount to claiming to be chosen by god over all others, specifically given victory over your opponents by divine intervention. What are the implications of such claims? Did God rig the vote or influence the voters of the Grammys? Did the defensive line of the the other team lose their ability to block because they didn’t pray enough? What happens when the both teams pray a lot! To thank God for something that is essentially a personal achievement is to stake a huge claim.  One had better be pretty confident, or the next time God may feel compelled to correct the misconception with a crushing defeat.
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Ambivalence re: A Petition to stop a Controversial Super Bowl Ad

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Liberal groups are petitioning CBS regarding a spot set to run during the SuperBowl.

The broadcast networks that air the Super Bowl have historically rejected advocacy ads. Yet CBS, which is airing the Super Bowl this year, has accepted an anti-choice ad by the ultra-conservative group Focus on the Family.
Focus on the Family’s “celebrate life” (read: anti-choice) ad features Heisman Trophy-winning college football star Tim Tebow. And CBS approved this anti-choice ad, even though the network has repeatedly rejected advocacy ads in past years including a 2004 MoveOn.org ad that went after then-President Bush’s fiscal irresponsibility and an ad the same year from the United Church of Christ showing them welcoming a gay couple who had been turned away from another church.
— via Credo Action

I have mixed feelings about this type of action.  I am uncomfortable with asking a network not to air an ad because I don’t like the message.  But what bothers me here is that CBS is airing this, but in 2004 it refused to air an ad from the United Church of Christ showing them welcoming a gay couple who had been turned away from another church because it was network policy not to accept “advocacy” advertisements.  CBS says it has revised its policy.  It’s a shame that the United Church of Christ, Planned Parenthood, or some other organization can’t try to buy time for a comparable spot putting forward a progressive viewpoint on some social issue.  That would test the network’s claim.
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