Is Blackballing Tim Tebow from the NFL Kosher?

Yes, we think that blackballing Tim Tebow from the NFL is kosher and proper. Michael Silver, writing on Yahoo Sports, understands why this is happening but is not sure that it is kosher ("Tim Tebow blackballed by NFL teams because of cult-like following, media frenzy").

We think that Tebow violates two major league sports conventions. (1) He grandstands way too much and (2) he broadcasts his religious beliefs in public, even on the field during the game.

In team sports individual grandstanding is frowned upon. Too much of it leads to what coaches call "a circus" around a player. That's a "distraction" and the management in major sports do not want that. By the way, professional wrestling perfectly mocks this aspect of all other professional sports by making individual grandstanding the main component of their events.

We've railed against Tebow's religious expressions since they became widely publicized during his college football career. Why? Because our studies have taught us that a strong element of American public culture is maintaining a separation between your church beliefs and the state of your actions in the public arena - especially in the workplace, in politics and in sporting events. Religious expression is proper in the family and in the church where it plays a role n the celebration of rites of passage (births, weddings, funerals) and in rites of seasonal celebrations (feasts and fasts).

Silver opines about Tebow on Yahoo:

...even though I sort of understand why Tebow is toxic, the fact that he's not even being given a chance to compete for a third-string job is troublesome. And just as I feel compelled to call out the league when it comes to injustices like the dearth of minorities in offensive play-calling roles, the apparent blacklisting of a quarterback who went 7-4 as a starter in 2011 and won a memorable playoff game over the Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't seem kosher to me.

Tebow, by all accounts, is a hard worker who radiates a relentlessly positive attitude. He has obvious leadership qualities and, as Broncos fans, 2011 opponents and "Saturday Night Live" aficionados alike can attest, an uncanny knack for getting the stars to align in his favor. (Or, perhaps, his deep Christian faith really does translate into things like Marion Barber inexplicably running out of bounds in high altitude. After the weirdness I witnessed that season, I'm not ruling anything out.)...

Bottom line: We believe that keeping the Tebow circus and religious crusade out of the NFL is kosher. We recommend that he try his hand at professional wrestling.

Experience God's Favorite Prayers

QB Tim Tebow: Update on John 3:16 and Hebrews 12:1-2 and the NFL Jets

Update: Tim Tebow did not merit eternal life with the Jets. See this report, "Noisy Courtship, Quiet Breakup - Jets Dump Tebow" on the NYTimes.com

The Times ran a lengthy article about Tebow, when he entered the NFL and struggled as a QB: "In Tebow Debate, a Clash of Faith and Football". Tebow was still over the top in his religious ostentation, almost Pharisaic in it, dare we use the term. And the Times used this instance to open a much needed discussion of religion and sports.

The Daily News added:



In 2009 we wrote: This week Tim Tebow has on some new verses, Hebrews 12:1-2 -- rubbing his religion on his face and in our faces again. This blogger is one Hebrew who opposes such public religious pronouncements on the field of sport, as sponsored by a state university, see below...

We have the greatest respect for Florida quarterback Tim Tebow as an athlete and as a humanitarian. He sets a great example for all of us.

Just one tiny little thing Tim. You had inscribed for all of us to see during the championship game last year in the black glare block under your eyes the reference to "John" under one eye and "3:16" under the other.

Talmudic Tempest: Did Triumphant Tebow Transgress a Taboo?

The Denver Post reports on a "Talmudic" controversy over a play that won a football game for Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. Was the team lined up for the play in an illegal formation? And if so, should that not have invalidated the touchdown?

Was Tim Tebow's game-winning touchdown pass for Denver Broncos an illegal play?

Were Tim Tebow's final-play heroics for the Broncos against the Steelers divine intervention or inaction by the officials during Sunday's playoff game?

Upon further review, it appears as though the Broncos may have been lined up in an illegal formation.

Is Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow Jewish?

No, as most football fans know by now, Tim Tebow is not a Jew. He is an evangelical Christian who is not shy about expressing his faith on the football field and off it.

But, it was a Jewish fan who came up with the idea for the Tebowing homage-to-Tebow web site. Patton Dodd writes about this in an article in The Wall Street Journal, "Tim Tebow: God's Quarterback."

As Mr. Tebow's acts of goodwill merged with his achievements on the field for the Florida team, Tebow fandom morphed into Tebow piety. Students launched websites dedicated to the young man, and blogs and message boards lit up with tributes. The blogosphere and Twitterverse produced a flood of over-the-top jokes declaring Tebow's greatness: "Tim Tebow has counted to infinity…twice." "When Tim Tebow walks on water, his feet don't get wet."

In recent weeks, as Tebow mania has re-emerged alongside the unexpected success of the Broncos, it has become clear that the fever is not confined to the quarterback's fellow evangelical Christians. Mr. Tebow's habit of taking to one knee in prayer on the field has given rise to an Internet meme called "Tebowing." Fans have posted pictures of themselves praying on one knee while doing everything from surfing and fighting fires to touring China and going into battle.

"Tebowing" is the brainchild of Jared Kleinstein, 24, a real-estate marketer in New York City who was raised in Denver, where he grew into a devoted sports fan. Mr. Kleinstein, who is Jewish, just wanted to pay tribute to the inspirational quarterback of his favorite team. He launched Tebowing.com from Manhattan in October, on the night after Mr. Tebow led the Broncos to victory over the Miami Dolphins.

Religious Celebrities: Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow and the Orthodox Jewish Taliban-Like Women

Amazingly, in our archetypal framework of analysis of religious personalities, two ostensibly different types of religious practice fall into the same personality category, the "Celebrity."

As we see it these two religious personae in the news today are "Celebrities" -- Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow (see Times Op-Ed Columnist Frank Bruni on, "Tim Tebow’s Gospel of Optimism") (and see the Times editorial, "Tebowing on the Gridiron and Off") and the Orthodox Jewish Taliban Women (hat tip to David for the latter VIN link).

Our sharp scalpel of analysis cuts it like this. Both are valid expressions of what we call in our new book, "the celebrity mode of religious expression" whose anthem is, "We're number one!"

Celebrities show their specialness and triumphalism in many ways, by slogans, by unusual and distinctive tribal dress, and in purely public mannerisms. You could point to war paint for native Americans, or to the Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow genuflecting in the end zone after a touchdown. Those kinds of public displays immediately reduce down to parallel archetypal content-less bravura put on for show.

Those acts have a dual purpose for the personality who puts them on for us. They say first, We are better than you, We are winning, and they, second, seek to intimidate the competition. The intellectual, theological and philosophical emptiness of the celebrity mode is so elegantly demonstrated when Tebow equates winning at a football game with winning at religion. It's all just a big game for him in both those cases.

And witness that neither of his celebrations of victory or supremacy has any depth or durability.

Eventually all teams will lose. And then they will have to go back and look for some actual defining knowledge or substantive meaning, some real content, not just bravura. Or else they just will disappear into the mists of former glory.

And oh well, we might go one step further in our parsing of religious personality.

If you are not an admirer of fundamentalist Christians or if you are not a fan of Taliban-like burka-wearing Orthodox women, the answers you may speak to the celebrities that you don't like are:  (a) simply and loudly tell them that they don't scare you; and (b) mock them mercilessly to everyone else for their utterly silly actions.

And of course, for the "Celebrities" that you do like, just wave your finger in the air and join them in the chant and the dance, "We're number one!" And, go out there and win that game! And if you win, take a bow.

Read my chapter on the Celebrity archetype in my book "God's Favorite Prayers"

The Super Bowl is Religion Without Religion

No religion ads for the Super Bowl this year, according to the Times.

And yet, the Super Bowl is celebrated with much more piety and ritual than any religion.

From The New York Times BELIEFS: Super Bowl Ads Will Leave a Religious Question Unanswered, "Fox Sports says a commercial explaining John 3:16 violates the network’s policy against advancing particular religious beliefs and practices."

Check it out here.

We took on John 3:16, Tim Tebow and religion and the big game in three posts last year here.

A Video Boo: Tim Tebow's mother's fabrication about her abortion choice

New Yorker has a dynamite rebuttal story, The Tebow Defense, posted by Amy Davidson.

They also embed this effective video response to the Tebow ad.



We did our own a two minute search and concluded that Pam Tebow made up her story.

Tim Tebow's mother claims in a national TV Superbowl ad that she was told to have an abortion in the Philipines in 1987 and decided not to do it. That claim is just patently false since abortion was illegal in the Philippines at that time and still is today.

Mrs. Tebow made no choice or decision based on religion. Her only legal option in that country at the time was to have the child, who is the athlete Tim Tebow.

Wikipedia reports:

The basic status of Abortion in the Philippines is that it is illegal, or banned by rule of law.

The act is criminalized by the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, which was enacted in 1930 and remains in effect today. Articles 256, 258 and 259 of the Code mandate imprisonment for the woman who undergoes the abortion, as well as for any person who assists in the procedure, even if they be the woman's parents, a physician or midwife. Article 258 further imposes a higher prison term on the woman or her parents if the abortion is undertaken "in order to conceal [the woman's] dishonor".

There is no law in the Philippines that expressly authorizes abortions in order to save the woman's life; and the general provisions which do penalize abortion make no qualifications if the woman's life is endangered. It may be argued that an abortion to save the mother's life could be classified as a justifying circumstance (duress as opposed to self-defense) that would bar criminal prosecution under the Revised Penal Code. However, this has yet to be adjudicated by the Philippine Supreme Court.

Proposals to liberalize Philippine abortion laws have been opposed by the Catholic Church, and its opposition has considerable influence in the predominantly Catholic country. However, the constitutionality of abortion restrictions has yet to be challenged before the Philippine Supreme Court.

The present Constitution of the Philippines, enacted in 1987, pronounces as among the policies of the State that "[The State] shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception." (sec. 12, Art. II)

Analysis: Running this ad is a big mistake for the religious right. They crudely violated a cultural convention about keeping all religion out of our sports. They've been eroding that boundary for years and finally thought they have the money and can do what they please. Well, they cannot. The backlash to this breach will be mighty, long-lasting and decisive.

So boo to Pam Tebow for her misleading story and to her friends for trampling on our cultural norms. And yay to the American public, to freedom and to pluralism.

Recap: For the top 5 Tebow eye black biblical verses, see the Christian Science Monitor.

We believe wearing your verses in your eye black during a sporting contest gives a black eye to your respect for your own religion and attacks the values of religious pluralism in the USA.

Postgame: The actual ad was so silly, inconclusive and ambiguous that there will be no backlash, no further controversy over this matter.

The Other Controversial Super Bowl Ad

Obscenity of the Year via the Christian Post: Tim Tebow Will Attack Abortion in Superbowl Ad

We wail and lament at a new nadir in the cheapening politicization and commercialization of religion in America.

Now joining the Bud Light Frogs are the holy Christian anti-abortion preachers, led by quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother.

Did someone say Focus on the Family is a "not for profit" tax free religious organization? Then what were they thinking when they signed Tebow on for a $2.8 million 30-second Superbowl  commercial?

This is so utterly obscene. Tebow, a great athlete, has been hijacked by the Christian Right into doing a disgracefully corrupt full frontal attack on abortion rights during America's premiere national sporting event.

Ribbit, ribbit, Jesus hates abortion.

Tim Tebow to Appear in Pro-Family Super Bowl Ad

Just weeks after capping his college football career with a win in the Sugar Bowl, Florida Gators’ star Tim Tebow is set to make an appearance during Super Bowl XLIV.

But it won’t be on the field that sports fans will see him.

It’ll be on television sets across America.

Tebow, 22, will be appearing with his mother in a 30-second commercial that will be watched by some 90 million people next month.

The commercial, produced by Focus on the Family, will present the Tebows’ personal story at a time when "families need to be inspired," according to Focus on the Family president and CEO Jim Daly.

“[T]he Tebows' story is such an important one for our culture to hear,” Daly stated in an announcement.

"They live what we see every day – that the desire for family closeness is written on the hearts of every generation,” he added...more...

[Hat tip to our anonymous friend]