Tim Tebow has obviously been catching some heat for his taped Super Bowl ad for the anti-gay Focus on the Family, in which he talks (yet again) about how his mother was told she should abort him and didn’t. Tebow spoke out about it:
“I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe and I’m never shy about that,” Tebow said Sunday. “I don’t feel like I’m very preachy about it, but I do stand up for what I believe and at least you can respect that. Unfortunately in today’s society not many athletes tend to do that, at least stand for something.”
Is he kidding? Not preachy about it? He inscribes a Bible verse under his eyes every game, broadcast on national television of course. And he just cut a commercial for the most-watched TV program of the year! And that’s not “preachy”? I can’t tell if he’s a complete idiot or he’s joking.
When my mother was pregnant with me, she was 17. It was the height of the abortion debate and many people told her she should get an abortion. But she didn’t. I don’t tell this story a lot because it’s irrelevant: Her decision and life situation has nothing to do with anyone else. Tim Tebow, on the other hand, feels the need to tell everyone that he wasn’t aborted when people told his mom to abort him.
Guess what, Timmy, I don’t respect people who affiliate themselves with hate groups like Focus on the Family. Why on earth would you say I should respect you for helping an organization whose focus is stripping me of civil rights?
NONE of us were aborted! I know you think you’re special because your mom decided not to abort you, but you’re kind of in the same boat with EVERYONE ELSE! So shut up about it. You’re not as special as you think.
Hat tip to Towleroad.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 1:30 PM
The Left is preachy about Global Warming, abortion on demand, evolution, etc. So what? Let the Right be preachy too! Freedom of speech.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 1:48 PM
preachy about evolution? yeah sorry if we insist on scientific evidence and not fairy tales to tell how we came into being, wingnut….
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 1:57 PM
If we allow the Preachy Reich-wingers to abolish legal abortions in this country, then sadly many poor or young women will die from botched back-room abortions and many more unwanted, sick or abandoned babies will result as well.
If Timmy Tebow had a hanger sticking out of his head it would be newsworthy to me… then he could really say he survived an illegal abortion because his hate-group friends forced women to cede control of their bodies to religious extremists.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 1:58 PM
He’s glad his mom made the “right” choice. But of course, Focus on the Family doesn’t want it to be a choice. Where is the love of life when the decision is made at gunpoint?
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 1:59 PM
it’s important to remember that morons like tim tebow, sarah palin and w berry norwood believe man lived alongside dinosaurs, so therefore we shouldn’t take people like them too seriously. but when they are preaching to children through the most highly televised sporting event of the year a line must be drawn and CBS must be held accountable! can’t some boycott or lawsuit be launched? the american taliban that is the religious right has overreached on this one this ad must be stopped!
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 2:21 PM
DruggyBear alludes to a good point. Tebow stands up for a boilerplate issue of strict constructionist biblical interpretation about “Thou shalt not kill” (which I assume underpins the right-to-life argument against all abortion) in a way in which he knows will be interpreted as an anti-abortion activity.
Yet he does not make just as big a deal about his survival of other situations in which people are killed, like war or terrorism.
Would he be as adamant in a stand against war or other killings?
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 2:58 PM
You are ridiculous…shouldn’t he be able to speak his mind? Is he wrong for being against abortions?
I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone that Abortions are wrong…it’s not a left wing or right wing situation.
in a perfect world we wouldn’t need to have abortions…
I’m pro choice in the sense that a persons body is their own, but i’m morally against abortions, and speaking out against it is only right.
Just because getting really drunk to the point of getting sick is legal doesn’t mean it’s right.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 3:17 PM
I said it on another thread here, and I’ll say it again, I applaud him for having the courage and conviction to stand up for what he believes in. I may not agree with him, but I will defend his right to speak his mind.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 3:32 PM
Whoever wrote this article should find a different career. Tim Tebow is one of the most highly respected young men in the history of football, and the messages that he sends are pure, good messages. He is a roll model among roll models. I am extremely proud of everything this young man stands for, and am happy to have him as my son’s roll model. Too often, people want to take God out of everything they do, and call it offensive because someone stands up for what he believes. I for one will not be one of those people. I am proud to be a Jesus Follower, and am proud of Tim Tebow, and will shout it out to the world!
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 3:39 PM
Sportinlife. If the biolerplate, as you refer to it says “Thou Shalt not Kill” than please explained why many passages of the Bible encourage killing?
I know you did not write this to have to defend the Bible and you were just making a point, but just look at Leviticus 20:10 “If a man commits adultrey with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.”
What is interesting about this section is that the Religious Right uses 20:13–”If a man lies with a male as with a woman both of them have committed an abominations, they should be put to death.” Yet they never mention 20:10.
Or shall we forget that you can only marry virgins–Letiticus 21:13–”He shall marry only a woman who is a virgin. (14) A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, a prostitute, these he shall not marry.” So do these same churchs who use the Bible as their text require manditory virgin exams prior to the marriage vows?
And let us not forget the Bible was used against interracial marriage–Leviticus 21:14-15 “He shall marry a virgin of his own kin (15)that he may not profane his offspring amoung his kin for I am the Lord.” So do these same wingnuts say that we should outlaw interracial marriage?
As a known scholar once said, “freedom of speech is not free”. Not when it is used to oppress the rights of a minority.
Tim Tebow has been insolated. When he has to defend his beliefs he falls into the silly argument that we have to “respect what he stands for.” O.K., using this arguement would he say we have to respect Hitler, the Klan, the unibomber, ect?
The thing about the Religious Right is that they never want you to question their beliefs yet have every right to tell you how to live. Tim Tebow is just another in the long line of fools who fail to do their research. Does he really know what ‘Focus on Family’ stands for and if yes he needs to be called on the carpet about it. Yes, he has the right to his opinion and so do we.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 3:46 PM
Freedom of speech carries responsibility. If you willingly put your viewpoints/beliefs out there, then you should know that there are others who don’t share those viewpoints/beliefs & that they have just as much of a right to voice them as you do. If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 4:07 PM
Freedom of speech carries responsibility, yes. But calling him a “moron” for not agreeing with you ( a la Druggy Bear) or assuming what he does and does not believe about evolution (again, a la DB) is childish. And it certainly doesn’t help us in any shape, way, or form.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 5:20 PM
The fundamental question here is not freedom of speech but fairness. Why is CBS even thinking of allowing an ad sponsored by Focus on the Family to be broadcast during the Super Bowl? Mainstream networks have denied airtime to messages from more progressive groups (in 2004, a pro-gay ad was not allowed). If CBS allows the Tebow spot, it should also allow paid airtime for groups with contrary points of view. Personally, I’d rather the “Super Bowl” be completely from social-cause advocacy, so we can concentrate on the football and the ads for unhealthy food!
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 5:53 PM
Scott B, just curious, What’s a “Jesus follower” doing on a gay sports website? Isn’t it some sort of conflict of interest?
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 5:58 PM
We welcome everyone to the site. You can be a fan of Jesus, Moses, Muhammed or anyone else. WE don’t discriminate, even if may of the followers of those people discriminate against us.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 7:19 PM
To Roland M.
“I think it is pretty obvious to everyone that abortions are wrong…” excuse me??? Say who?
I have been a social worker for many, many years. Please come into a social service office and hear their stories. I find it offensive as a man to ever tell a woman what she can or can not do to their bodys. If a woman needs an abortion there is always a reason for it. You may not agree with it but that is not your call.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 7:30 PM
hey DR what is more childish than believing in fairy tales? and hey Tebow can speak his dumb mind all he likes but proselytizing during the super bowl for a hate group is beyond the pale! no way the CBS & the NFL would let a pro-choice or pro-gay rights commercial air but becuz the messiah Tebow is schilling for the knuckle-draggers suddenly anything goes?! and it’s you who’s not helping our cause, my friend, for siding with those who damn us to hell and fight to deny us rights. go ahead and give them the respect they deny us, I won’t oblige them…..
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 7:39 PM
Never hear the Bible-thumpers preaching “live and let live” when it comes to the gays.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 8:07 PM
Hey, oneway, whad’y'a think about this:
1) I am a male Bible-thumper…
2) …who believes that, as long as a male keeps his hands off of my butt, whoever else’s willing butt he puts his hands on doesn’t bother me at all…
3) …and who believes that James Dobson and Barack Obama are so false Christians, Satan would be recalled by God from Hell to Heaven when those two die…
4) …and who was the last Florida quarterback to have a great NFL career? Karma’s coming, and payback is, as they say, a female dog
…oh, btw, if Ellen DeGeneres couldn’t keep her hands off of my butt, I might not mind…
…my wife would, however, unless George Clooney couldn’t keep his hands off of her butt at the same time (that’s non-negotiable, she said!)
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 8:25 PM
2 sides off the coin on this one Tebow was born because the docotr told hold his mom because of her health things may not turn out the right way, b ut i think all doctors give you a choice when you walk pregnant after coming from a 3rd world country. Now Tim is a great athlete but he is a “Freak” in the best way.
I work with kids who parents are Crack heads and i have seen even with the best help they will never live above a level of crime because thats all they know. Think Tim Tebow are you going to move to North Philli and help those thug kids who want what you got? Only 5% of all college athletes will play past that senior year and only 1% will be “Pro”. Some people go to places live with the people for a few months then get back home. That mission you were on is about spreading your religion not helping the people develop on there own.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 8:48 PM
Dawson is absolutely right; Rolando is an idiot. “I think it’s pretty obvious to everyone that Abortions are wrong” WTF?? Hardly. That’s just your opinion, which you’re certainly entititled to, but to say everyone should agree with you is despicable.
And oh hey Scotty: are you teaching your son the correct way to spell ROLE model??
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 9:45 PM
take a look at some of the ads the NFL & broadcast networks have rejected over the years, a pro-gay marriage ad is among them:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/24/super-bowl-ads-controversy
why does Tim Tebow and his hate group get a pass?
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 9:48 PM
Druggy, I’ve seen you on other websites, and I am not surprised that you’ve now gone the route of calling Christianity a “fairy tale”.
It’s people like you who make our fight that much harder because you insist on name calling.
Maybe you ought to remember something the great MLK, Jr did. He appealed to people’s consciences, he didn’t call them names and insult them. Think about it.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 9:57 PM
<<>>
Sure he has a right to stand up for what he believes in. He DOESN’T have the right to tell me I have to respect him. Hell, I’ll defend the right of any moron/idiot to have their own beliefs and to voice them, but respect is something you cannot demand.
BTW, this is less about Timmy than it is about CBS having a double standard.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 10:05 PM
“When my mother was pregnant with me, she was 17. It was the height of the abortion debate and many people told her she should get an abortion. But she didn’t. I don’t tell this story a lot because it’s irrelevant: Her decision and life situation has nothing to do with anyone else.”
Um, Cyd, you wouldn’t even exist unless your mom had decided NOT to get an abortion. So I’d say Tebow’s message and your mom’s story are fairly important. Human life isn’t meaningless, it’s sacred, and that fact is something that should resonate for everyone whether they believe in God or not.
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 10:13 PM
Very well said, Cyd…obviously Tebow has the right to speak his mind whenever and wherever he wants. The controversy has little to do with Tebow or his story…it has to do with the unequal treatment of all religious organizations with regards to advertising by CBS and the NFL. Would Tebow heap his respect on a gay athlete doing a commercial supporting same-sex marriage during the Superbowl? Hells no, he wouldnt. Not that CBS would allow it to be aired…
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 11:38 PM
Tebow had better concentrate on the football portion of his career and not the spokesperson part. He fumbled 6 of his 10 hikes from under center today prepping for the Senior Bowl.
NFL coaches and scouts tend not to like that sort of thing.
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 12:59 AM
The Hitler Youth were sincere and for Motherhood and against abortion and a whole lot of other nasty things[just ask the Pope!]
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 1:38 AM
Do all of Tebow’s fanboys have Google alerts set up for him?
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 6:30 AM
I get queasy knowing that ANY religion is advertising on television, competing for “customers” like Coke vs. Pepsi, Budweiser vs. Miller, Apple vs. Microsoft, Geico vs. All State et al. Churches have no business having enough money to buy the single most expensive TV ad spots in televison history.
And somehow I doubt CBS would be accepting ads from Islam or Scientology.
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 8:51 AM
I’m sure if a group wanted to run a 30 second montage of all of the women who went against their doctor’s orders and died, CBS wouldn’t allow it.
I wonder how god decides which mothers live and which ones die. Does it have something to do with their NFL potential?
Great list of banned Super Bowl ads Druggy although they left out my fave…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsCoPb43TUk
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Did people miss the point of this article?
It’s not about abortion; it is about associating with a group that advoctes hate.
I think Tebow is a bright, articulate young man. I also think that he is getting bad advice and making decisions based on emotion without looking at all of the angles. Is Tony Dungy his agent??
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Not to side track the debate, but if you happen to be a Christian, gay, and single, (Non-cursing is a plus) email me for boyfriend applications!
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 1:37 PM
CBS just cut the Tebow spot for the Super Bowl. I guess a lot of liberal folks like football and complained…
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 1:39 PM
Ooops, above not true. I should read more than headlines!
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Something tells me if this is guy is somehow able to crack an NFL roster as QB there’s gonna be a lot of “roughing the passer” in his future
on Jan 26th, 2010 at 11:22 PM
LEAVE TIM ALONE!!!!! WHAT HAS HE DONE TO YOU GUYS
on Jan 27th, 2010 at 8:16 AM
@Rob:
I see that comment a lot in the blogospehere. My problem, and the reason why I see it as disingenuous, is that it’s usually accompanied by a significant number of personal attacks on Tebow.
You can’t say you’re standing up against FotF while insulting Tebow AND the people who say that FotF has the same Free Speech rights as the rest of us.
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 1:22 AM
“You can’t say you’re standing up against FotF while insulting Tebow AND the people who say that FotF has the same Free Speech rights as the rest of us.”
why not? and why are you defending a group that is determined to keep you from attaining the same human rights that straight people have? no one is saying they don’t have a right to free speech but that speech has consequences and if you want to ram your ass-backward religious and political views down our throats during the Super Bowl then they should expect to be fought back.
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 2:51 AM
Tebow and his mother remind me of Norman Bates and his mother.
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 3:04 AM
lol oh come on that’s not fair, norman bates was way hotter than tim tebow…
….not to mention less creepy!
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 8:39 AM
Druggy, you missed my point, so let me reiterate. YOU have been one of the worst offenders all over the web in attacking Tebow, not FotF. Personal attacks against Tebow, whose views you may not agree with, don’t impress me much.
And again, FotF has just as much right to express their views as anyone else does. If you don’t agree with them, go raise a couple of million bucks and get your pro-choice message out there now that CBS is relaxing their standards since they’re totally strapped for advertising cash.
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 10:47 AM
DR maybe you should actually read the literature the fotf puts out and then defend Tebow and his choice to associate with them. If they just had a positive message to put out there fine. But they put out hate under the guise of religious freedom and lies and misinformation.
The point is the double standard the NFL and CBS has. When the United Church of Christ tried to put an add up showing that they were an inclusive church that welcomed gays and lesbians they were denied.
They made a bad choice to air this and yes I question Tebow’s character and intelligence for associating with fotf.
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 11:48 AM
I am well aware of the nature of FotF. I still do not believe that the name-calling and personal/anti-religious attacks I have seen on the web are appropriate. Period. None of you will convince me of such.
I may not agree with Tebow’s views, but he has the right to express them.
Just curious as to how many of you have seen the UCC ads,or are you just following along on the bandwagon? I saw both ads, “Bouncer” and “Ejector Seat”. A majority of the ad time was focused on the perception that other denominations are exclusive. Hardly in line with the UCC’s claims that the ads were “pro-gay”. No, they were “anti-non UCC denominations”. The “Steeple” ad was a much better representation of what the UCC stands for (and I ought to know, I’m UCC myself).
Either way this comes down to dollars. CBS doesn’t have enough ad revenue, so they took this one. The UCC will be airing spots come April. If CBS won’t air them under the new policy, I will happily write to CBS and complain.
on Mar 14th, 2010 at 11:59 PM
Read most of your comments. Just happen to know about the Bible (well, a little more than the average bear anyway) and about abortion. Also, know and love some homosexuals and some FORMER homosexuals (yes it IS possible). Also, have my OWN sins that are JUST AS BAD as homosexuality.
1. There is different types of killing (i.e. war, self defense, murder). Killing by abortion is taking the life of an innocent human being so that another can live better. When we take the responsibility of spreading our legs, we automatically take on the responsilibity of the consequences of spreading our legs. Same for all of us. Even Homosexuals. You take the responsibility to engage in homosexual acts, you take the responsility of the consequences, like the possibility of disease. It’s one thing to do it to ourselves and another to willingly afflict another with our consequences. Gays, how about it? How do you feel when someone goes around with aids knowlingly and doesn’t tell his partners? Well, that is the same as 98% of the women do when they kill their babies. Only 2% of women abort for medical purposes. This procedure and decision is very difficult and never has been illegal. It is unfortunate that many of the rest of us aborted because it was just plain inconvenient for us to give birth. Never gave a thought to the baby. I had an abortion. I listened to the lies. They said my baby was a piece of tissue (I later miscarried a younger baby that fell out in the toilet-that was no piece of tissue!) They said I would forget all about it. NO MOTHER EVER FORGETS EVER, EVER, EVER! I did not fully realize all I had done until later in life, but I can assure you the day came when I had to face it.
The Good news is simply, though the things we have thought at the time were good were really very very bad for us and others, God loved us all anyway. It was and is no surprise to Him that we messed up and didn’t listen to what He said. The best news of all is He already paid for those sins through Jesus we are all equally and totally forgiven. All you have to do is take the gift. You pray: THANK YOU for paying for my sins and you begin to get to know the kindest most loyal and loving God just as you are. You don’t have to do anything other than read a New Testament to learn how He relates to us today.
Blessings and love to all of you.
on Sep 17th, 2010 at 1:00 AM
@Precious Tome
The New Testament is only relevant in this day and age to those who want to take it beyond a mere book fandom to a book-based way of life which assumes that all human beings are under the mandate of a deity created by (not revealed to, but created by) a single culture in the Levant. It is highly presumptuous, arrogant and condescending for members of the Bible or Quran fandoms to interpret sexuality as something to be sinful and shameful for the mere issue of reproduction.
And even if you were less condescending in your assumption of an alleged need for us to “accept” or “submit” to the authoritarian belief system, I would still repudiate your statement as both unprovable/unfalsifiable and probably causing far more problems in sexual orientation than the ones which you see as problems in behavior: proof lies in the untold millions more who cannot resolve themselves with their own sexual orientation or gender identity because of both malicious and well-intended shaming or disapproval ingrained into these folks at an early age, only to realize that they’re truly attracted to people of the same sex (or both same and opposite sexes), and that the hole into which they’ve found themselves prevents them from moving forward in their sexual self-realization, perhaps only being allowed to go so far as to make the simple self-admission of their non-heterosexuality and not much else.
I understand that, in your attempt to make room for “ex-gays” who swear off homosexuality as a drug because of their religion’s dictates, you are, by extension of your argument, denying of the fluidity of sexual orientation, where many, many more bisexuals exist than is admitted in most cultures. Would you tell them that their sexuality is wrong because it involves same-gender romances or trysts, even if they also participate in opposite-gender relationships and bear children by vaginal intercourse?
If ex-gay is a matter of sexual fluidity, then why deny that fluidity to bisexuals? Or do you deny the validity of same-gender love of any type, and view every sperm as sacred?
And, by extension, would you encourage girls to marry while young – perhaps, before they’re 18 years old – so that none of their own precious fluids are wasted outside of bearing metaphorical boatloads of children? Would you ban divorce, as your favorite book dictates that the protagonist hates such an event?
Do you hate or devalue females so much that, in your worldview, their only worthwhile application is to bear and raise children? Do you or your fandom’s imagined deity devalue humans so much that their own mutual, consensual relationships are sinful threats?
Is your imagined deity so insecure and anthropomorphically-inclined that we simply can’t be bothered with his fickly-interpreted whims regarding the value and worth of human relationships? Not become fearful of him or it, just not bothered. Noncognitive. Silent.
Just indifferent.