(First Things On the Square Blog) Elizabeth Scalia—The Terrifying Tim Tebow

Posted by Kendall Harmon

It says a great deal about the depths to which America’s values have fallen that Tim Tebow--who, once upon a time, would have been the wholesome, women-and-mom-respecting, clean-playing, fresh-faced and faithful Hollywood ideal of a football hero—is the target of such deep derision from so many sources, and in an era of such vaunted “tolerance.”

Although it may seem too easy to some, I blame the baby-boomers—a generation so in love with deconstructing old standards (and so completely neurotic about being perceived as anti-establishment, smart, and most of all, cool) that it only can express full-on admiration for the anti-heroes. Were Tim Tebow using his on-camera time to swagger and preen and lecture the nation on green energy, greedy millionaires, and gun control, his Christ-fixation would not only be permitted, it would be held up as a gaudy rebuke to uncool Christians everywhere, and his pronouncements—as long as he kept his mouth shut on abortion and gay marriage—would never be challenged.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Sports • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals

4 Comments
Posted December 15, 2011 at 5:16 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. Mark Baddeley wrote:

For a non-American it certainly is an eye-opener how such an openly devout Christian, with an apparently unorthodox-but-so-far-highly-effective-when-it-counts-game can be such a lightning rod.

I think Scalia is correct - in an earlier era, Tebow would be a poster boy for all-American, God-fearing wholesomeness. Now people are offended that he’s still a virgin.

And then there’s this: http://nation.foxnews.com/tim-tebow/2011/12/14/columnist-if-tim-tebow-wins-super-bowl-christians-will-be-burning-mosques-bashing-gays-and

which one wonders if someone at foxnews will shortly admit was a hoax, it so parodies the anti-Tebow feeling.

December 15, 6:34 am | [comment link]
2. David Keller wrote:

Fox talked about it let night. I initially thought it was a parody, but apparently not. There is enough controversy about it that the Rabbi took out the paragraph about burning Mosques etc.

December 15, 8:58 am | [comment link]
3. Br. Michael wrote:

“Tolerance” had never been about true tolerance.  As used it is simply another euphemism about silencing those with whom the left disagrees.

December 15, 9:02 am | [comment link]
4. Capt. Father Warren wrote:

The anti-Tebow sentiment is just a most public manifestation of growing intolerence of Christianity and the destruction of First Amendment rights.  Pray in front of an Abortion clinic and you might be arrested.  Have a bible study in your home and you might be fined.  Trying to start a church and need a worship space?  Local bureaucrats refuse to let you use public spaces because of “separation of church and state”.

December 15, 9:28 am | [comment link]
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