College football star and Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow gained national attention recently by wearing Scripture passages on his face during high profile football games.
Now it looks like he has another project in the works—this time starring in a Super Bowl ad with his mother, where the message might just be a pro-life one:
“The Colorado Springs-based media ministry shot the ad with the Tebows Tuesday in Orlando, Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said this morning. It is set to air before and then again during the CBS broadcast of the game from Dolphin Stadium near Miami, he said. Tebow and his mother will share one of their many personal family-affirming stories, Schneeberger said, but he wouldn’t reveal which one. One such story could be her decision to carry him to term despite a life-threatening pregnancy in the Philippines where she and her husband Bob were serving as Christian missionaries.”
(Read more about the story of his mother’s difficult pregnancy with him—where she defied doctors’ advice to have an abortion.)
The Evangelical Christian organization Focus on the Family is funding the 2.5 million dollar ad. President and CEO Jim Daly says of Tim and his mother:
“Tim and Pam share our respect for life and our passion for helping families thrive. Focus on the Family is about ... strengthening families by empowering them with the tools they need to live lives rooted in morals and values.”
The Tebows have a powerful pro-life story, and I hope they will be given the opportunity to share it with a national audience. There still is the possibility that CBS will decline to run the ad, as NBC did with last year’s effort by Catholic Vote.
I am pleased to see a young athlete using his fame and talent to promote the cause of life, but there are some who predict that an alliance with Focus on the Family will lead to negative publicity for Tebow.
“So far Tim Tebow’s own personal charisma has served to mask some of the intolerance associated with his own religious beliefs,” writes college football analyst Clay Travis. “By taking an avowed stand against abortion on the same day America celebrates the greatest sporting day on the calendar, Tim Tebow is taking a huge risk and stepping into a new arena.”
Whether or not it’s a significant risk remains to be seen. Either way, Tebow appears to believe it’s one worth taking. I admire him for that.
Comments
Post a Comment
Way to go Tim Tebow!
How can they justify spending that kind of money on a TV ad when our neighboring country is in ruins and needs every bit of help it can get? Where’s the holiness in that? That 2.5 million could have done so much good to the poor and homeless and orphaned in Haiti. It’s time to start acting as Jesus would have and use our resources where they are needed the most
Todd -
I totally disagree. This adds nothing compared to the millions of dollars that doctors and Planned Parenthood make daily in our country killing innocent lives. That TV ad is one of many that ‘should’ be displayed daily in our lives like those of the Humane Society and ASPCA. How can we justify that many people in our country are completely oblivious to the wage and war we have on abortion? It strips a woman of her dignity as well. Have you ever witnessed a mother’s story about aborting a baby and being completely remorseful of her action. It truly is a painful thing to see a human being not have known how their actions cause such “earthquakes” in their lives.
Yes, Haiti needs our help, but countless efforts through the years have been made to help Haiti, through the tax dollars of all Americans and International citizens. Simply put- it’s a shame that Haiti has gone through a horrific and catastrophic tragedy, but our dollars have been always going to Haiti, it’s just been very mismanaged by Haiti and the UN. I believe wholeheartedly that our country needs to wake up to the atrocities that happen everyday in OUR American country. Many women are ignorant to the fact that abortion is murder. I am so sorry you feel that way Todd. I think Jesus works in so many beautiful ways through good and through some very bad things like the recent earthquake in Haiti. Through this horrific tragedy in Haiti, I hope people realize that this might be the “REAL CHANGE” that finally Haiti needs to rebuild and restructure a country that already was in ruins before the Earthquake last week. It sometimes isn’t all the money or material things that change people, its just simply HUMANITY and DECENCY and I believe that is what Jesus would have done.
In the words of Mother Theresa of Calcutta, “Abortion kills twice. It kills the body of the baby and it kills the conscience of the mother.Abortion is profoundly anti-women. Three quarters of its victims are women: Half the babies and all the mothers.”
In Jesus Heart through Mary—- Jackie
Since Planned Parenthood is ramping up to gain from the Haitian disaster, I think spending money on a pro-choice message can help both causes.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jan/10011902.html
Using Todd’s line of reasoning, how can we justify the millions of dollars spent on movie star salaries? Two and half million dollars is pocket change compared to the budget of a major motion picture. Perhaps we should stop making movies and use that money to help everyone around the world who is suffering. Of course, that isn’t going to happen, nor should it. I’m reminded of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that was proclaimed at Mass this past Sunday: “...There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord…”. Some people use their gifts in service to the Lord through the pro-life movement; others use their gifts in helping those whose lives have been impacted by a natural disaster; still others help the poor. Working in one area doesn’t lessen the importance or necessity of another.
We definitely need to get the Pro Life message out to the country. Hopefully, people will listen to T. Tebow’s message.
love it
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.