For those you who haven’t heard, Tim Tebow is in a commercial being run by Focus on the Family during the Super Bowl. The ad is apparently Tim’s parents talking about the pregnancy complications they had with Tim and the difficulties they had with doctors encouraging an abortion.
The ad is controversial because typically major networks reject ads similar to the one that is scheduled to run. You might remember last year when this ad about abortion and Obama was rejected by NBC.
This week ESPN ran two opposing articles on the ad. Jemele Hill had this to say about Tebow and the ad:
“In today’s sports climate, expressing an opinion often results in serious backlash. In some cases, an athlete’s choosing to do what Tebow is doing might be professional suicide.
Tebow’s decision to appear in this ad should be considered just as courageous as Muhammad Ali’s decision to not enter the draft, or Tommie Smith’s and John Carlos’ black power salute at the 1968 summer Olympics.
No, I’m not kidding.
And yes, I’d say that if Tebow were appearing in an ad that advocated a pro-choice position.
Ali, Smith and Carlos championed their views at a time when not everyone supported the idea of equality, and when refusing to serve your country was considered blasphemous. Their views, to put it mildly, were thought to be inappropriate, militant and, in Ali’s case, completely anti-patriotic.” (read the whole article HERE)
Someone who disagrees at ESPN is Tim Keown who said this:
“Tebow is not an innocent, and he does not appear to be deluded. He may agree with everything Focus on the Family represents. But he’s still a young man, still breathing the fumes of a home-schooled background with two parents who believe in the inerrancy of every single word of the Bible. Now, they could be right and I could be wrong on the Bible thing — although it’s going to be hard to convince me the whole belly-of-the-whale thing wasn’t allegory — but he could be setting himself up to be associated with causes and beliefs that may not be his own. All the qualities that make him admirable — earnestness, devotion, a willingness to expound on his beliefs — make him vulnerable.” (read the whole article HERE)
I often share my opinions on this blog, because after all, it is my blog. But I think I’ll stay quiet in hopes that people with various opinions will feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. Hopefully I’m not opening a massive can of worms by blogging about this…
What do you think about Focus on the Family spending $3 million to run this ad?
What do you think about Tebow’s involvement with the controversial ad?
Is running this ad even controversial to you?
**UPDATE** Here is the actual video. Safe to say the uproar was way overdone based on what was actually aired:
Pingback: Tim Tebow and the Super Bowl ad | Owlhaven()
Pingback: Weekly Hit List #4 - Faith - - Valencia Family Ramblings()
Pingback: uberVU - social comments()