I wasn’t going to do another Gospel Disproof today, but I saw Ed Brayton’s post on how Worldnetdaily is now hawking “Tebow trash” (or as I prefer to call it, “Teboloney”), and it struck me that Tebow is a great Gospel Disproof.
See, here’s the thing. Tim Tebow is obviously a big fan of Jesus. He talks about Jesus a lot, he has a history of putting Bible verses on his face, and he shows up in church every Sunday. Jesus, meanwhile, is supposed to love Tebow even more than Tebow loves God, yet Jesus hasn’t once shown up to watch his favorite quarterback play, or to root for the Broncos.
Now, I’m an imperfect dad. I love my kids enough to die for them if need be, just like God is supposed to love us. But I even love my kids enough to show up for the important events in their lives. When one of them is performing in a concert or a theatre production, I’m in the audience. I watch and listen and applaud and go up to congratulate them when it’s over. And I’m an imperfect dad. God’s supposed to be perfect, but He doesn’t show up for His kids’ big events. Not even for Tim Tebow.
You can make excuses for God; kids and spouses of absentee dads are good at that sort of thing I guess. But isn’t it more likely that God consistently fails to show up because He does not, in fact, exist outside of the imaginations of believers?
But god shows up all the time – “spiritually”. How else could Tim be successful. Without god, genetic makeup and hard work mean nothing.
The way christian religion demeans human achievement for the glory of an an imaginary character is one of its most annoying features. Having this mentality thrown in my face constantly makes atheist activism necessary.
Yeah, but I guess God can’t really show up for Tebow’s games without making Jesus jealous – after all, he didn’t even bother to show up for Jesus’ own torturous execution, despite setting it up himself and despite it allegedly being the most important moment in history.
If you miss a Kodak moment like that, you’re officially a worse father than Darth Vader. ._.
The problem is that it’s all about Tim Tebow & God. What about everyone else in the stadium, or on the opposing team? It’s a fair guess that someone is rooting for the other team, or the opposing QB – is God giving them the middle finger because he’s got a man-crush on Timmy?
Or, in rational terms, it’s a clear example of ‘missing negative cases.’ Tebow did tank several games this season. Was it because God was busy? God was punishing Timmy for not being prayerful enough? God put Timmy on hold?
We need somebody to paint devil horns on his forehead and say that Satan is blessing his football playing. That way when he beats Tebow everyone can say, “Oo, look, God was defeated by Satan.”
I jest of course, but the sad thing is that if someone did do that, there would be Christians agreeing and using it to insist that God needs to be given more control over sports (and schools and government, etc).
It could have something to do with Denver’s defense, which is quite good.
Think. If God was in the stands, rooting for Tebow, how would the other side play? Especially given God’s habit of destroying those who annoy him in inventive and dramatic ways.
By not appearing, He is simply allowing a fair game.
And if He is indeed not cheating and giving Tebow the advantage that Tebow is giving Him credit for, then Tebow is lying about the performance-enhancing qualities of the Spirit he imbibes before each game.
It would work almost as well if the opposing team’s QB also had Bible quotes on his face, got down on his knees, etc. Then when one side or the other won, it would actually make everyone think about the utter contradiction of it all.
God (or Jesus) doesn’t show up because it would be a clear conflict of interest – because someone on the opposing team also expects to have their favour.
oops, missed a closing tag in there after ‘also’
Good point.
Keep an eye out on the Denver sideline today for a Moses-looking dude holding his hand up, ala Exodus chapter 17, verses 10-13. You may see some assistant coaches helping him hold his hand up if he gets tired.
Still not sure how God lets Tebow get away with having pillows sewn into his armholes, though. “Behold, I am against your pillows.” (Ezekiel)
Let’s just hope Timmy is wearing his cup. If his balls get crushed, he can’t enter the Assembly of GOD. (Deuteronomy)
Personally, I think if God is helping Tim Tebow win football games, they should both be fired.
And like most busy parents, today god missed his favorite child’s game!
If you want to continue believing that Tebow is just another pious asshole, you should definitely avoid this story:
I believe in Tim Tebow