Bill Maher takes on Tim Tebow and feels the wrath

[lilwriter85]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/2 ... the-wrath/

 

 

Quote

Bill Maher takes on Tim Tebow and feels the wrath

 

By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

 

(CNN)– On Christmas Eve the Denver Broncos were getting destroyed by Detroit Lions on the football field and comedian, liberal commentator, and religious provocateur Bill Maher couldn't help but tweet about it.

 

Wow, Jesus just f***** #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler "Hey, Buffalo's killing them"

 

People quickly responded to Maher on Twitter and called him (in summary) a hell bound atheist piece of trash. Maher's social media jab was picked up by the media too and landed in newspapers, websites and TVs everywhere. Pundits and twitter users called for a boycott of Maher's HBO show Real Time, and threatened to cancel their HBO subscriptions.

 

The timing could not have been better for Maher. The new season of his show begins next month and the week between Christmas and New Years is a veritable wasteland for actual news. In a world where no publicity is bad publicity, Maher scored big.

 

Maher has long skewered people of all faiths as part of his act. In 2008, Maher starred in "Religulous" a documentary that poked fun at any and all religions.

 

For all the furry aimed at Maher for the Tebow crack, the long time atheist received comparatively little heat for his Twitter dig at Jesus the next day on Christmas.

 

Happy birthday to JC – but don't forget the other "gods" who have the same bday/bio: Horus,Mithra, Krishna, Osiris, Dionysus..makes u think!

 

It was insulting Tim Tebow, not Jesus Christ, that drew the ire of a nation.

 

"[Tebow's] public image is built on goodness and virtue," Patton Dodd said. Dodd is the author of "The Tebow Mystique: The Faith and Fans of Football's Most Polarizing Player" and the managing editor of Patheos.com. "His particular expression of Christianity, or Christian witness, is built on acts of kindness to the poor and needy and to strangers. It's not just taking a knee on the field and thanking Jesus after the games. I think a lot of his fans know that."

 

Dodd said fans likely felt defensive towards Tebow, but acknowledged an athlete so public about their faith could not viewed as untouchable.

 

"I think the difference here is what Maher said was particularly crass and crude and I think it's seen as aimed more ... at Tebow's fan base than Tebow," he said.

 

For those who said Maher crossed an unspoken line with the tweet, comedian Pete Dominick said no way. "Our job is to push the envelope. There is no line for us. We don't have a line. You can make a joke about my kids getting cancer as long as it's funny. It has to be funny. That's the only rule, that it's funny. We're supposed to be controversial we're supposed to be provocative, that's what our job entails."

 

"He's begging to be made fun of," Dominick said.

 

Dominick, who is also the host of Stand Up! with Pete Dominick on the POTUS Chanel on SirusXM, said Tebow's outspokeness about his faith makes him a prime target for comedians. "He goes out on TV and talks about his faith, he puts it on his eye black. We're going to choose to make fun of it. Always."

 

"I think it's the wrong thing to get upset about. It's a tweet. It's a predictable tweet from a guy who says these kinds of things and who has an audience who love him for those kinds of things," Dodd said.

 

For his part Tebow has not commented on Maher's tweet, keeping true to his formula of not engaging critics. Dodd said part of what makes Tebow such a great athlete is his ability to block out the noise and focus on the game of football. Requests for comment from Maher were not responded to by his publicist but Maher tweeted on Wednesday night:

 

All u J-freaks having a cow re my Tebow tweets pls go back to the much longer piece we did on 11/4 Real Time and have a proper heart attack

 

There Maher goes after Tebow in far more than in the 140 characters Twitter allows per post.

 

If Tebow and his Bronco teammates can win on Sunday they will make the playoffs.

 

[Childless]

Tebow can talk openly about his faith and Maher can slam him for it. If you don't like to hear Tebow talk incessantly about God, then don't listen. If you don't like to hear Maher smear an overly religious mediocre football player, then don't listen. We still have freedom of speech in this country right?

I swear, it doesn't take a lot to get the holier than thous' panties in a twist does it?

[Alecto]

Freedom of speech doesn't mean you are free from criticism of your speech.

[susanmr5]

Freedom of speech doesn't mean you are free from criticism of your speech.

Agreed.

I generally don't care if a celebrity goes on and on about their religion. It's part of their "thing" just as much as Lady Gaga's crazy clothing is part of hers. You can't expect to say something like that about a famous person, especially if you're high profile as well, and not expect backlash from the person's fans.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Pfft. I follow Bill Maher on FB and didn't give that comment a second glance. Anyone who'd claim to boycott his show over that comment never watched in the first place.

[JenniferJuniper]

Maher loves to create attention just before a new season just to remind his fans that he's coming back shortly. And it's always entertaining watching "Christians" get their panties in a bunch over some showboater in their legions being - gasp! - made fun of.

[lilwriter85]

Tebow can talk openly about his faith and Maher can slam him for it. If you don't like to hear Tebow talk incessantly about God, then don't listen. If you don't like to hear Maher smear an overly religious mediocre football player, then don't listen. We still have freedom of speech in this country right?

I swear, it doesn't take a lot to get the holier than thous' panties in a twist does it?

Perfect words to describe Tebow. I know some Christians who view Tebow as that. My cousin is a Broncos fan and he doesn't like Tebow's constant talk about God and religion. He also views Tebow as mediocre and he doesn't see Tebow as a long term solution for the Broncos.

I don't think Tebow will ever end up in the same league as elite QB's.

[FuManchu]

For all the furry aimed at Maher

Gosh - the man's under a more devastating form of attack than I thought!

[debrand]

What is interesting is that fans got more upset about the comment against Tebow than they did about the comment against Jesus. A lot of Christian fans act like Tebow is the real Messiah not Jesus. Of course, I think that a lot of American Christians ignore Jesus in their beliefs anyway.

[Peas n carrots]

hehe. Love the comment from Bill Maher. To be honest I don't care what Tebow does, he's free to do it but I'm free to think it's annoying. But in the realm of fundiedom he's pretty mild...I'm more concerned about poor education at the SOTDRT or oppression of women/children than a NFL player genuflecting or talking about how great Jesus is.

Btw, I wonder if that guy has lost his virginity yet.

[debrand]

hehe. Love the comment from Bill Maher. To be honest I don't care what Tebow does, he's free to do it but I'm free to think it's annoying. But in the realm of fundiedom he's pretty mild...I'm more concerned about poor education at the SOTDRT or oppression of women/children than a NFL player genuflecting or talking about how great Jesus is.

Btw, I wonder if that guy has lost his virginity yet.

I've wondered the same thing. It really isn't my business but so many Christians make a big deal out of purity, I can't help but be curious.

Tebowing strikes me as a desire to get attention for himself and not god but he is free to do what he wants. I am free to enjoy Maher making fun of him. :lol:

[Peas n carrots]

I've wondered the same thing. It really isn't my business but so many Christians make a big deal out of purity, I can't help but be curious.

Tebowing strikes me as a desire to get attention for himself and not god but he is free to do what he wants. I am free to enjoy Maher making fun of him. :lol:

I agree...but then again isn't witnessing a big deal too? Methinks it's his way of doing that. But nevertheless any way you cut it for me it's annoying.

I loved the SNL skit when Jesus says "You're making me do all the work. Instead of reading the bible before the game, try reading the playbook.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Esther]

Tebow annoys me and I kinda like Maher, so meh. How was his comment crossing a line? People can say they wanna shoot the gays all over the place because of what the Bible says, but Maher can't poke fun at what is at best a mediocre football player who's receiving an inordinate amount of attention. Bawwww.

[Esther]

What is interesting is that fans got more upset about the comment against Tebow than they did about the comment against Jesus. A lot of Christian fans act like Tebow is the real Messiah not Jesus. Of course, I think that a lot of American Christians ignore Jesus in their beliefs anyway.

Yeah, this. If Jesus came on the American political scene right now, he'd be a Middle Eastern-looking Jewish socialist. I highly doubt a great number of Christians would like him. Hell, he'd probably be on the no-fly list within three days.

[BoomerLynn]

Oh so true :)

[margiebargie]

Gosh - the man's under a more devastating form of attack than I thought!

:lol:

[margiebargie]

Tebow annoys me and I kinda like Maher, so meh. How was his comment crossing a line? People can say they wanna shoot the gays all over the place because of what the Bible says, but Maher can't poke fun at what is at best a mediocre football player who's receiving an inordinate amount of attention. Bawwww.

Religion falls apart when examined too closely. That's why so many religios people try to pretend that they're above criticism. It's why they get all huffy. It's a protective mechanism. If they were forced to examine their beliefs and behavior too closely all the hocus pocus they like so much would poof away. They'd just be ordinary folks with ordinary problems.

I think Tebow would have been an alright kid but he's been heavily brainwashed all his life to think he's Jesus's little favorite. He'll probably drop out of the NFL and become a televangelist.

[lilwriter85]

Religion falls apart when examined too closely. That's why so many religios people try to pretend that they're above criticism. It's why they get all huffy. It's a protective mechanism. If they were forced to examine their beliefs and behavior too closely all the hocus pocus they like so much would poof away. They'd just be ordinary folks with ordinary problems.

I think Tebow would have been an alright kid but he's been heavily brainwashed all his life to think he's Jesus's little favorite. He'll probably drop out of the NFL and become a televangelist.

I can see him dropping out of the NFL and doing that. As I said before, I doubt he will ever become an elite QB. He has improved at the NFL level a bit. But the Heisman curse will take its toll on Tebow. Right now I see Cam Newton having a better chance of being an elite QB.

I can easily see Tebow dropping out of the NFL in a few years and taking over daddy's orphanage in the Philippines.

[thoughtful]

A google image search for "Tebowing" brought up lots of fun images. I have labeled them, just to make things clear. ;)

That is all.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I loved the SNL skit when Jesus says "You're making me do all the work. Instead of reading the bible before the game, try reading the playbook.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Heh. I loved that bit too. "No no no. No. The ACTUAL playbook..."

The other good joke I heard about Tebow lately was that of course you can tell he's a good and generous Christian - he gives the opposing team the ball every time they ask for it... :dance:

[smittykins]

A google image search for "Tebowing" brought up lots of fun images. I have labeled them, just to make things clear. ;)

That is all.

:clap:

[contrary]

pre-bowing. HAHAHAHAHA. omg.

[sea_gale]

Gosh - the man's under a more devastating form of attack than I thought!

Goddamn he's so annoying they set the furries on him :o

[darareaksmey]

Athletes have been praying and genuflecting and blessing themselves and pointing skyward and kissing the crucifix around their neck for ages. I doubt fundies get that warm fuzzy Tebow love-feeling when a Dominican shortstop makes the sign of the cross before coming to the plate. They've just chosen a clean-cut guy who happened to win a big award to adopt as their persecuted poster-child. Maher works my nerves, but Tebow works my very last one.

[Miss M]

I love Maher! I posted this link on my FB about an hour ago...CRICKETS so far...but I LOVE IT!

http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/new- ... p_mobi=yes

M.