Tim Tebow And Christophobia

Marcia Segelstein – OneNewsNow Columnist – 11/1/2011 http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=1469656

I’m not much of a football fan, but I know who Tim Tebow is. He’s known to me as the player who, with his mother, made a Super Bowl commercial for Focus on the Family. It’s hard to forget because of all the controversy it generated. Women’s groups demanded that CBS not use it, claiming that to air an anti-abortion commercial would be divisive.

As it turned out, the ad wasn’t a hard-sell against abortion, or pro-abortionists. The words “abortion” and “pro-life” weren’t even used. Tim’s mom simply talked about how happy she was that Tim survived what was a difficult pregnancy. She didn’t even mention the fact that because of an illness, she was advised to have an abortion but chose not to. The commercial ended with these words appearing on the screen: “Celebrate family. Celebrate life.”

Doesn’t sound very controversial, does it? Nonetheless, controversy continues to follow Tim Tebow.

George Weigel, a renowned Catholic intellectual and author of Witness to Hope (a biography of Pope John Paul II), recently wrote a piece for The Arlington Catholic Herald called “Tim Tebow and Christophobia.” George Weigel writing about Tim Tebow was enough to spark my curiosity.

Tim Tebo (photo compliments of Denver Broncos website) First, some basics. Tebow, now in his second year in the NFL, began the season as the third-string quarterback for the Denver Broncos, but has started under center the last two games. While he was a college player, he won the Heisman trophy leading the University of Florida to two national collegiate championships. Some sports commentators have called Tebow the greatest college football player ever. Others, however, have questioned his ability to succeed playing pro football. All in all, there’s been a lot of hype and some squawking that Tebow wasn’t living up to it. But that’s not the controversy I’m talking about.

It turns out that last month, ESPN aired one of its “Outside the Lines” specials on the subject of why Tim Tebow had become such a contentious figure in sports. Here’s a line from the special that sums it up: “Despite his popularity, Tim Tebow’s outspokenness about his conservative Christian beliefs has made him a polarizing figure.”

Tebow is open about his faith, no question about it. He famously wore Bible verses on his eye-black strips while playing college football. When Tebow wrote “John 3:16” on those strips during a championship game, 92 million people reportedly searched it on Google.

For this he is derided and called “holier than thou.” For being an openly faithful Christian, Tim Tebow is hated. Christophobia is real and getting stronger.

After 10 years as a producer for CBS News, 40-something years as an Episcopalian, and 17 years as a mother, Marcia Segelstein (mvsegelstein@optonline.net) considers herself a reluctant rebel against the mainstream media, the Episcopal Church (and others which make up the rules instead of obeying them), and the decaying culture her children witness every day. Her pieces have been published in “First Things,” “Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity,” and “BreakpointOnline,” and she is a contributing editor for Salvo magazine.

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