Florida Coach Urban Meyer told the New York Times that Tim Tebow will return for his senior year taking advantage of his notoriety to evangelize for Jesus. In a report, Meyer said the two
discussed how the verse that Tebow wrote on his eye black (John 3:16) for the Bowl Championship Series title game last week became the most searched item on Google. Said Meyer: "His whole purpose of
playing football and being Tebow is to use it as a platform to spread his faith."
Time for the NCAA to throw a flag on face (or any other body part) advocacy advertising. There are strict
guidelines to guard against the over-commercialization of college football (with the exception of the Bowl series, which is one long 34-game commercial for Bowl sponsors), but I guess it is OK to use
your face to promote Christianity, since about 80% of Americans claim to be one, while a mere 1.4% are Jews and just over a half percent claim to be Muslims.
Interestingly, the PC-conscious
NCAA rode to the rescue of a group representing only 1% of the U.S. population when, in 2005, the NCAA executive committee declared that nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive"
(read: anything related to American Indians) would not be allowed on team uniforms or other clothing in any NCAA tournament. But I guess they don't have the political chutzpah to take on Jesus.
One wonders what would happen if a Muslim wide receiver (you know there has to be one out there somewhere), on scoring a touchdown, dropped on his knees, forehead and arms, outstretched towards
Mecca and praised Allah for his good fortune. He'd be buried in "excessive celebration" penalty flags. But under the current standards, it would be OK for him to slap Qur'an 56:12-40 on his face,
pointing to where Allah condemns non-Muslims to Hell based on their unbelief, while believers are rewarded with the finest earthly comforts in the hereafter, including never-ending food, wine and
sex.
The whole idea that God intervenes in football games to produce touchdowns seems pretty bizarre to begin with. Where was God when 53 kids died just playing football over the last 10 years? You don't see blitzing linebackers lay a crippling hit on ball carriers in the
name of Jesus. Yeah, they all kneel and hold hands and look somber while the rescue squad carts off a guy who may never walk again, but there was no "love thy neighbor" in the hit that brought
the kid to the turf 10 seconds beforehand.
If the NCAA allows Tim to promote Jesus, what is to stop the occasional Satanist (you know if you watched Oklahoma State there has to be one out
there somewhere) from putting verses on his cheeks that highlight some of the more controversial aspects of the Christian bible, such as a blanket condemnation of all
homosexual behavior (I Corinthians 6:9); selling your own daughter as a sex slave (Exodus 21:1-11); child abuse (Judges 11:29-40 or Isaiah 13:16); and bashing babies against rocks (Hosea 13:16
and Psalms 137:9).
Or maybe two Fundamentalist players on the same team (yeah, there have to be two of them out there somewhere) could battle with highlighted biblical passages that
directly contradict each other:
God is warlike: (Exodus 15:3) or (Isaiah 51:15); no, God is peaceful (Romans 15:33) or (1 Corinthians 14:33).
God accepts human sacrifices (2 Samuel
21:8,9,14) or (Genesis 22:2) or (Judges 11:30-32,34,38,39); nope, God forbids human sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:30,31)
Killing is commanded (Exodus Ex 32:27); check that, killing is forbidden
(Exodus 20:13).
Just as the NCAA would have a shit-fit if a player pointed TV viewers to an offending passage in "Mein Kampf"or"Contemporary
Voices of White Nationalism in America"or wore a decal for Hooters or Budweiser on his cheeks, they need to rule that college faces that appear on TV representing collegiate athletics are
not places for any kind of message -- no matter how well-intended.