I don’t normally blog twice a day anymore, but I had a point I really wanted to make right away.
There are things like this all over Twitter. Here’s the basic idea-
“Tim Tebow has been criticized for his allegiance to God and Christianity, while Jason Collins is praised for coming out as being gay.” Lots of people are confused about this.
Here’s the difference:
When Tim Tebow is on the field, he brings God into. He squats down, prays, and he points up to the sky after each touchdown. In every interview he brings up his religion. If every time Jason Collins scored a basket* or made a rebound he fell to his knees and mimed having sex with a man then it would be the same thing. I doubt at any point during an interview Jason Collins will thank the biker from The Village People then begin singing “Macho Man.” If he does, it is the same thing. Tebow is mocked because he brings it upon himself. He overexposes his lifestyle that has nothing to do with sports. When you do ANYTHING on the field it is open to criticism. Tebow is not mocked for being a Christian. Tebow is mocked for being a showboating over-hyped fullback who somehow tricked us into thinking he was a quarterback.
Caring one bit about what any player does in their personal life is silly because most athletes are jerks. Ray Lewis helped cover up a murder, Michael Vick killed dogs (and only served time for conspiracy, not actual killing), Dany Heatley was given 3 years PROBATION for vehicular homicide when he KILLED a teammate, Mike Tyson was convicted of raping a woman and he gets paid money to make cameos in movies, and of course many more.
If a porn addict spends all of his free time looking at porn a lot of us might think he’s weird, the same way it’s okay for us to think a Christian or a homosexual is weird. But when the porn addict brings that part of his life to his job then he is open to criticism and punishment by his employer which in the case of sports is management and the fans. People have every right to think Jason Collins’s lifestyle is wrong the same way I have every right to think people who waste their lives judging other people for stupid reasons is wrong. Chances are there have been many other professional athletes who were gay over the years. I’m not sure why it matters at all. Once the initial shock wears off then I think people will settle down.
This is a battle between “Christians” and “homosexuals.” I put them in quotes because I hate whenever anyone labels themselves as anything more than who they are above anything else. Why would anyone care what a basketball player they had never heard of until yesterday does with his life? I’d go further, but that’s not the point. The point is there is a difference between Tim Tebow and Jason Collins.
*If Jason Collins actually does make a basket (and I don’t mean like crocheting a wicker one since he’s gay and that’s all he’ll do now) I think he has the right to do whatever he wants. He hasn’t averaged more than 3 points per game since the 2005-2006 season. Simply put, he’s no threat to anybody.
Mooselicker 
I support both men talking about their beliefs. I am a Christian and I don’t support the label we have about gay rights. (I know you were not doing that)
I wonder if this article was the reason the massage therapist, that I posted about today, said what she said. It was odd for sure.
Great post.
I think they both are allowed to be who they want to be. It’s the fact that it happens on the field during the game. Most athletes actually are very religious. It’s all about when you do those things. I hope Tebow does give people hope. I just don’t think he should prance around in the 4th quarter using God like it’s a novelty belief.
I’m with you. Collins is certainly not a “hero” in my eyes but Tebow is a complete and total “tool”.
I look forward to the day that …
1) People finally understand that Christianity and Homosexuality have absolutely nothing to do with each other
2) “Coming Out” isn’t news.
3) “Coming Out” doesn’t need to happen.
4) True Christians get tired of their fringe radicals doing all the talking and speak out themselves.
Agreed double. It will probably be a while still. In a way it’s kind of exciting to find out who’s gay. It’s the same way I get excited whenever a list of ball players on steroids comes out. It’s gossip. We could only be 10 years away though. Sports are really the last place where this homophobia is so prevalent. When you put men in a locker room from all different backgrounds where they have one thing in common and they have to strip down naked it’s a weird situation. Wouldn’t a true alpha-male know he’s better than everyone else and not care? Whatever. I don’t think anyone’s going to disagree with me unfortunately even though I would like to see their side of things.
“Christianity and homosexuality have nothing to do with each other.” You are right. Christians are supposed to repent of their sins not advertise them.
Exactly!
I’ve heard a little of the hype about this and think it’s just dumb. I get the whole Tebow thing and how he’s an inspiration and a man who isn’t afraid to show his belief system to the world but shouldn’t it be because he’s actually a good athlete and not because he points to the sky? Don’t get me wrong, I believe in God and I don’t have a problem with people professing their faith but when you’re known more for that then what your actual job is (is being a professional athlete a real job?), maybe you’re in the wrong profession.
As for the gay/straight thing… You probably don’t want to hear about my sex life and I really don’t want to hear about yours. I don’t care of you’re gay or straight or…well, lets just stop there before I gross myself out.
My point is that it shouldn’t all be about your faith or your sexual orientation or the color of your skin but about how well you do your job. Whether your job is to be an athlete, musician, thespian, blogger, stay at home parent or anything in between just work hard to be remembered as someone who was respected for a job well done.
Perfectly said and in words I wish I could have used.
Okay, that was funny. But that should be the new ‘end-zone’ victory dance.
That was pretty funny. But I was wondering how this would look different from miming having sex with a woman. Or maybe I’m just naive.
You have a very good point there.
Hang around the right bars and you betchya there’s a difference.
I forgot you grew up in San Francisco…
Ha ha.
First, thanks for having the balls to actually express an opinion that is totally and completely your own without holding back. I agree that both sides are better served by actual people than celebrities and that we will never truly have a problem become solved until it is no longer considered important. Your points about labels and how our need to define ourselves by them only become counterproductive. Racism and bigotry will never truly be solved until we stop defining people by their race or orientation. Well said.
Thanks Josef. I don’t think I said anything too outrageous, especially for WordPress where things slant very left wing. Labels are definitely the biggest problem. I think it’s what we go to because we see people as caricatures in our own minds. I actually saw a study about that too years ago.
I like this. It think the way the argument is being framed as Christians vs Gays is a bit silly. I think its just homophobes grasping at straws to support their argument. I don’t think real Christians have a problem with Collins
Oh yeah real Christians always get grouped into the faux ones unfortunately. It’s unfortunate because then good people are ignored by the atheist community and such.
I don’t know who any of these people are so I don’t care. 🙂
You’re not missing much, Pete.
As none of us should.
THIS: “When Tim Tebow is on the field, he brings God into. He squats down, prays, and he points up to the sky after each touchdown. In every interview he brings up his religion. If every time Jason Collins scored a basket* or made a rebound he fell to his knees and mimed having sex with a man then it would be the same thing.” YES.
Whenever anyone does anything that’s over the top and overhyped, and shoves it down people’s throats, they’re bound to get public mocking. Personally, I find many Christians offensive in this regard. I don’t really care if Tebow is a devout Christian, or if Jason Collins is gay. But I agree a million percent that there’s a big difference between showboating and just being yourself.
And I also agree a million percent about Tebow’s football skills. Apparently the Jets only just figured this out.
Muhammed Ali is a good example of someone who preached about his religion way too much publicly, but actually had talent. I think that does make a big difference too. If Tim Tebow was really good he would be the really good Christian quarterback. Instead he’s the Christian who’s better than most people at football.
I think we are qualified to work as general managers for an NFL franchise.
The New York Jets are idiots. They wasted what they had in Tim Tebow out of fear and just traded their best player. They have not figured out anything.