Christian culture warriors are on the war path after comedian and atheist Bill Maher sent out a tweet teasing Tim Tebow, Denver Bronco quarterback and self anointed poster-boy for the Christian right.
By Wednesday, outraged Christians, angry with Maher, were organizing a boycott of HBO, the cable network where Maher’s program, Real Time, airs.
The Christian outrage began last Saturday, Christmas Eve, after Tebow and the Broncos were soundly defeated by the Buffalo Bills. Tebow, in particular, had an awful day, throwing multiple interceptions in what can only be characterized as a poor performance. After the game Maher posted a tweet to Twitter teasing Tebow.
The following is the text from Maher’s profane tweet:
Wow, Jesus just f----d Tim Tebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler "Hey, Buffalo's killing them"
Following the profane, but humorous tweet, Christians went ballistic. Facebook and Twitter have been buzzing with Christian outrage ever since.
In what might be construed as misguided Christian charity and compassion, Fox News pundit Eric Bolling sent out a tweet berating Maher before condeminig him to hell:
Bill Maher is disgusting vile trash. I can't even repeat what he just tweeted about Tebow..on Christmas Eve. #straighttohellBill
One can only wonder if the irony of condemning an atheist to hell was lost on Bolling.
Target Tebow
To be fair to Maher, Tebow has set himself up as a target. Tebow, raised by controversial evangelical missionary parents, is famous for praying on the field. Tebow has worn his evangelical Christian faith on his sleeve since playing college football in Florida. Indeed, Tebow is known as much for his in your face Christianity as he is for his talent on the football field.
Yet many people, both Christian and non-Christian alike, find Tebow’s constant over-the-top, public display of prayer on the football field to be demeaning, frivolous, and ultimately absurd. The idea that a God, imaginary or otherwise, would care about something so trivial as a football game strikes many as simply ludicrous.
However, the sad fact is there are apparently many Christians who believe Tebow’s supposed special connection with Jesus translates to points and wins. How a rational individual could believe such a thing is puzzling.
Belief in a god is one thing. How a rational person could believe a god could be so capricious as to help Tebow win a football game while letting children suffer and die is quite another.
Reflecting a growing public sentiment, Maher’s tweet came only a few days after a Saturday Night Live skit aired in which Jesus instructs Tebow to “take it down a notch.”
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