What if Tim Tebow were Muslim?

[omgangiepants]

Tim Tebow’s profession of faith has thrust the mixture of sport and religion into the national spotlight in a way that few can remember

Comments

[captain_emily]

If Tebow were Muslim, it would go one of two ways. Either he would be told to shut up and keep his head down by the NFL, or he would be sidelined and quietly forgotten about until his contract is up. However, I doubt it would even get that far. If he were as publicly demonstrative of his Muslim faith as Tebow is about his Christianity, it wouldn't exactly be a secret. I doubt he's even get picked up in the first place.

[_udntnome]

True.

[bowtomecha]

Fascinating article. It was impressive then half way went in a totally unexpected direction.

I think bringing religion into sports is very tacky. Praying to a higher power for a win, good performance or as thanks for athletic prowess is using it for vain purposes and in this case Jesus is very clear on the topic and strictly warns against doing so publicly.

[ceilidh]

Praying about sports bothers me. It's one thing if someone prays that they do their best or that no one gets hurt, but praying that you win seems selfish. And what if someone on the other team is just as devout and prays that they win? Does God flip a coin?

[mirhanda]

Yeah, I agree. I really doubt God cares very much who wins our little contests, you know?

[tabaqui]

The comments at the source are really interesting and for the most part intelligent, which is refreshing. I've always found it annoyingly hypocritical that some Xians will complain about 'xians are the only religion that can be publicly made fun of!!' but have no problem saying *and doing* things that are over and above mockery - moving into violence - toward other religions.

Everyone gets mocked in America - 'dumb' blonds and 'dumb' jocks, fat people, thin people, gays, virgins, hippies, vegans, hipsters, ravers, people who make sweaters out of their dog's hair, people who drive Pintos. Not saying its good or right or necessary, but i don't think that your belief system (xian, muslim, etc.,) should automatically mean you don't get made fun of if you act like an asshat or get self-righteous over sports.

[mirhanda]

I dunno about the Muslims getting mocked though. When those cartoons came out, a LOT of people on the left were all "you shouldn't mock people's faith" and stuff like that. So it's almost like Islam gets some sort of pass, and I don't know why. And what could be more self-righteous than rioting or death threats over a stupid cartoon?

[tabaqui]

I agree, though i guess i was thinking more about America, where the xians are continuously telling us how they're being 'attacked' and 'oppressed', as opposed to xians in, say, Egypt, who were *actually* physically attacked.

I don't know if any American Muslims publicly said anything about the cartoons, i don't remember, but i *do* dislike that some fanatics get so hysterical and dangerous about things like that that the rest of the world, seemingly, cowers in fear of their wrath. That's exactly the kind of 'exemption' religion seems to get a lot of the time that i really disagree with.

[chantalzola]

Don't forget christians in Iraq! They're pretty much non-existant now, most having fled to other countries (or killed).

I'm not sure i'm responding to the right comment, heh.

[bestdaywelived]

I hate Tim Tebow. He's not even that good as a player, honestly.

He makes me uncomfortable. He's dangerous, honestly, because his showmanship for Christianity is just another way to try and convince people to convert. It sounds bizarre and illogical, but it's true; I know his breed of Christianity, and I know what they want to do.

[chantalzola]

and sell books.

[nesmith]

"And what can we do to silence these Christian athletes? Who thank Jesus whenever they win--never mention his name when they lose. 'Jesus made me drop the ball.' 'The Good Lord tripped me up behind the line of scrimmage.'" - George Carlin

[layweed]

Haha, yes. That's why I hate it when people like Rick Perry are like, "PRAY FOR RAIN!!!!!!" Um, but nothing about the drought being caused by God or anything right?

[nesmith]

The cognitive dissonance some Christians have must be some kind of coping mechanism or something, because awful things are blamed on chance or teh gayz and good things are all Thanks Be To God.