Ye Olde Soapbox

God and Tim Tebow

Posted on December 12, 2011 

Before I begin this post, I’d first like to thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ for giving me the ability to post this blog on WordPress.  Without his divinely inspired strength and focus, none of this would be possible.  All praise to God.

Does the above reference rub you the wrong way?  I would think God has more important things to do than keep watch over my little blog.  And this also holds true in sports, where players, especially those with a religious background, are prone to thanking God after every little success on the field.

Which brings us to Tim Tebow.

Tebow, the son of Christian missionaries, has taken to genuflecting after scoring a touchdown, in homage to his God.  I guess he feels God’s direct intervention has led him to the promised land (ie, the end zone.)  He even likes to quote biblical verse in the locker room to urge his team on.  But his pose – which has come to be known as Tebowing - with fist to forehead while on one knee, is being aped and ridiculed on the internet.  A website, Tebowing.com, has allowed people to strike his pose at different places around the world.  You can see folks Tebowing in front of the Taj Mahal, on ski slopes, in front of a cathedral in Cologne, Germany and anywhere else you can think of.  It’s really quite funny.

(This is reminiscent of the gnome that was stolen from a home in Gloucester, England, and turned up seven months later, with a note and photo album showing the gnome had travelled to twelve different countries.  Pictures showed the gnome climbing a glacier in New Zealand, in front of the Sidney Opera House in Australia and swimming at a beach in Thailand, among other places.  The note claimed the gnome had “itchy feet.”)

But back to Tebow.  I will give him his props because all he has done is win since he was given the starting job by the Denver Broncos.  But is God really that interested in whether or not the Broncos are scoring touchdowns and winning games?  Doesn’t God have more important things to do?  To think that God has any interest in the outcome of even one game out of the two hundred and fifty-six games that comprise the regular season in the NFL seems a bit presumptuous to me.  And does it mean that the players on the losing side were not grateful enough to their God to win the game?  And what of the Gods from other religions?  Should Muslims thank Allah?  How would fans react if a player started spouting “Allah Akbar” after scoring a touchdown?  Or if Buddhists started doing a little dance while chanting and banging finger symbols together in celebration?  Where does it end?

I have nothing against religion, as it does have its place.  I just don’t think it should be in the end zone.  I guess I believe in the separation of Church and Sport.  Isn’t that what Thomas Jefferson wrote about so many years ago?  Also, after scoring a touchdown, players should heed the words of the late, great Walter Payton and, instead of celebrating - whether religious or not - act like they’ve been there before.

 God and Tim Tebow | breezespeaks.

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