Tim Tebow engineered, or at least inspired, another 4th quarter comeback victory for the Denver Broncos on Sunday bringing his record as a starter to 6-1 and in first place in their division. But outside of Denver, people sneer derisively every time Tebow acknowledges his faith publicly. Why is this?
Before Bill Clinton I was oblivious to the curious phenomenon by which we Americans need to know that our leaders and heroes are no better than the worst of us. To have them be better than us compels us to live up to some standards of behavior. We Americans don't like personal standards of behavior. We like our politicians to lie to and cheat us and molest and kill interns. We like our athletes to carouse, get busted for DUI, and serially cheat on their wives and children. Not that we all behave like that, but as we go about our lives, nobody can point a finger of condemnation at us when Bill Clinton is doing what he did with Monica in the oval office.
We're comfortable feeling superior to dishonest politicians and degenerate athletes and as long as Tim Tebow is losing we can still feel superior, but we are definitely uncomfortable with a good and decent guy being a winner too.
I wonder if other players and sports media would be mocking him if he wore Islam or Hinduism on his sleeve as unapologetically as he does Christianity? That's a rhetorical question. You already know the answer. Tebow's public acknowledgement of Christianity forces us into the uncomfortable position of evaluating our own lives and the media can't have that.
That's why you can count me as a huge Tebow fan. Not just because he's a Christian, but because he confounds the sniping critics who hate what he stands for.
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