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The Tim Tebow Story With A Pro-life Twist

In two weeks millions of viewers will tune into CBS for Super Bowl XLIV. Across the country there will be parties stacked with Buffalo wings, beers, nachos, steaks, burgers, cheese trays, and assorted vegetable dips. The country will watch as Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts take on Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

Super Bowl Sunday is the second most American day of the year, behind July 4th. It’s a day of drinking, football, revelry, and debauchery. It’s also the most important day of the year for commercials. Men and women alike are annually entertained by Bud Light and Doritos commercials. But this year we are being treated to something new, Tim Tebow slinging pro-life propaganda, and it’s not going to be funny.

On Super Bowl Sunday Tebow and his mother, Pam, will be in a commercial paid for by conservative Christian group, Focus on the Family. It will center on the amazingly over-played story about the living miracle that is Tim Tebow. In 1987, a pregnant Pam Tebow, while on a mission trip in the Philippines suffered a dangerous infection. Doctors recommended to her that she abort the child because there was a significant chance of dying during childbirth.

She refused because of her strict Christian beliefs and as a result birthed one of the greatest college football players of all-time. While playing at the University of Florida, Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy and two National Championships. It’s a wonderful and uplifting story, but it should not be used towards a pro-life campaign during the Super Bowl.

The reason Focus on Family’s evangelical founder, James Dobson, is airing this commercial during the Super Bowl is logical. He wants the most amount of exposure as possible. Last year it cost $3 million dollars for 30 seconds of commercial time. Why would Dobson spend that kind of money to send a “simple, family oriented message?” Dobson is pouring lighter fluid on a fire that doesn’t need a bigger flame.

Abortion is one of the most controversial topics in our country and has led to gratuitous violence. Letting one side take a subversive and conflict-ridden stance on a hot issue, on a very pubic stage, will lead to very public disputes and media outcry.

Jehmu Greene, director of Woman’s Media Center, is speaking out aggressively against Focus on Family and CBS. “This organization is extremely intolerant and divisive and pushing an un-American agenda,” said Greene. “Abortion is very controversial, and the anti-abortion vitriol has resulted in escalated violence against reproductive health providers and their patients.” (FOXNews.com)

Greene is currently spearheading a campaign to force CBS to pull the Ad, citing that they have banned commercials in the past from Ads that might be controversial, such as PETA and the United Church of Christ. As of now CBS does not seem to be budging, and the commercial is on schedule to air. The controversy is going to result in higher ratings for CBS, so why would the network care about the ramifications?

The most recent example of anti-abortion violence is the 2009 murder of Dr. George Tiller, the late-term abortion provider, was shot and killed while volunteering as an usher as his local church.

According to the National Abortion Federation records show that since 1977 there have been eight murders, 17 attempted murders, 41 bombings, 175 acts of arson, 96 acts of vandalism, 406 death threats, and 642 bomb threats against abortion providers in the U.S. and Canada.

In recent years, violence against abortion clinics and providers has declined, but this commercial has already started to incite anger on both sides of this winless war two weeks before it airs. The outrage amongst pro-life and pro-choice will only increase after the Super Bowl.

The pro-life vs. pro-choice issue is far from resolved, and won’t be for the foreseeable future. Hopefully this won’t result in more random pain towards the innocent, over a choice that concerns one individual.

By: Adam Kearney

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