Why Tim Tebow Makes Me Uncomfortable

First, let me make one thing clear: this has nothing to do with any commentary on Tebow as a football player. In that respect, it has a lot in common with 97% of every thing written about Tebow. I'm not even going to take any cheap shots at Tebow the football player. I truly hope the Donkeys start him in every game for the next 8 years. They should totally do that. He is clearly an excellent NFL QB. There is absolutely no one better than him to fill that role. And, just to be clear, read those sentences again: if you read in sarcasm, that says something about you, not me, because I wrote them straight.

No, this is a screed about Tebow The Evangelical Christian. And, unlike many other screeds on this topic, this is written by an actual Christian. And, as a Christian, I want you to know: Tebow makes me uncomfortable.

This is largely for a single reason: I was always taught that the relationship between a person and his or her god is highly personal and private. You could get together once a week to commune (literally and figuratively) with God in the company of some like-minded individuals. But otherwise, you just didn't speak about it alot. Polite people didn't do that. Ever. Religion fit up there with money as subjects that you just didn't raise.

Now, in this Bachmann era, where wearing ones religion on one's sleeve is not only accepted but well nigh required, some might perceive my belief as quaint and old-fashioned. But the reality is that the current "being Christian for gain and profit" movement only underlines the importance of actual adherence to this old tradition. Whomever you are, your merits should be weighed on their merits (so to speak) rather than based on whether we both subscribe to the same flavor of Judeo-Christianity (look, if you come from a wholly different school, like Hinduism or Rastafarianism, you're screwed in this country. I'm not gonna lie to you).

Thus, every time Tebow Te-bows, to kinda-privately, kinda-look-at-me-ishily commune with his very specific variety of God, I shudder a bit. The same way I would if he pulled down his pants and took a dump. Some things are just not for public display. (Unless you're Japanese, apparently.).

By the way....

As you can tell, I've not posted anything political in quite some time.  Frankly, I'm fed up.  The Occupy protests only succeeded in one thing:  Causing the 1% to push through updates to the NDAA that allow 'indefinite detention' to Americans who are deemed 'terrorists'.  And Obama signed it.  He snuck it through on New Year's Eve, when he thought no one was paying attention.  And we just now got out of Iraq (technically).  And Guantanamo is still open.  And he extended the Bush tax cuts to the rich.  He's been more of a Republican than Dubya was.  Granted, he got that Healthcare thing passed (in a completely butchered and gimped form, and wasted all of his political capital to do it), and repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell, but neither of those affect the average citizen.  If he signs SOPA, I hope the Founding Fathers pop out of their coffins and feed on the brains of all three branches of government.

I haven't posted anything political because I'm disillusioned, but that doesn't mean I'm not paying attention.

Yet another Battlefield 3 video (this time, from the Xbox)

If you're not playing Battlefield 3 ... what's your excuse?

The footage is from the Xbox, and all taken from one evening of play.

The wonderful Lady Bling (not her real name) got me a Hauppage HD PVR for Christmas.  It was easy to set up, and works just like advertised.  Then I bought Adobe Premiere Elements 10 and have been learning how to use it.  It's not as full-featured as the more expensive editing programs, but it's a hell of a lot better than the free ones I'd been messing around with.

I hope your New Year has started off well.  Now, go use one of those giftcards your grandma gave you for Xmas and get Battlefield 3 for the Xbox, and hop on with us some night.  I'll make you famous!

P.S. Blogger.com has changed their interface, and you can't just paste embed code into the blog anymore.  That's why the video is smaller than the ones I'd posted previously.  Click the name of the video in the upper left hand corner to view it in all its teabagging glory.