The New Republic

The premise of the spot is that Tim is alive today because his mother chose not to have an abortion, which would have been against God's will and a sin. If this is a religious message, a Christian message, it's an odd one, for it subsumes that sin (in this case abortion) is more powerful than God; if Tim's mother had defied God's will and had an abortion, a sin, she would have altered God's plan not only for Tim but the many thousands who derive inspiration from him. Who knew Tim's mother had such power.

- raylward

January 30, 2010 at 10:11am

Never seen that Yogi-ism. Gotta remember that.

- cspencef

January 30, 2010 at 12:28pm

raylward- I don't think most Christians believe in pre-determination; they believe in free will. How else could people be adjudged sinners or non-sinners? If there is a God, it presumably is against God's will for people to commit murder, right? So the thousands upon thousands of murderers in the world must be more powerful than God, right? Moreover, I think neither you nor I have seen the spot, so how is it that you are able to say what its premise is? Of course, it cannot be gainsaid the Tim Tebow would not be here if his mother had chosen to have an abortion. At minimum, regardless of where one comes down on the issue of the right to abortion, that should drive home the point that the to have have or not have an abortion is a very serious, consequential decision.

- dhurtado

January 30, 2010 at 9:36pm

So was it an act of free will for Judas to betray Jesus? Surely the betrayal of Jesus would be at the top of the list of sins. And yet, if Judas had not betrayed Jesus there would have been no crucifiction and reincarnation, and no salvation for sinners. Of course, this isn't an original thought, as an entirely separate and competing Christian theology is based on it. If one accepts that Tim's mother had the free will to decide whether to have an abortion, and that her decision, not God's, gave life to the Tim Tebow we know, then nothing in this life, good or bad, can be explained as an act of God. Would the holocaust have been avoided if, by an act of free will, Hitler's mother had aborted her pregnancy; likewise, would the chain of events that lead to a deranged bin Laden and the 9/11 terrorist attack been avoided if, by an act of free will, somebody in the chain had chosen a different course. My own view about abortion is complex, as my only child was born in 1970 when I was only a child myself. My faith tells me that God's plan, no matter how painful it may appear at times, as was God's plan for Jesus to suffer death on the cross, is the right plan, indeed the only plan.

- raylward

January 31, 2010 at 9:26am

It is a false dichotomy to say that all events are either God's will, or nothing is God's will. If all events happen because they are part of God's plan, then it makes no sense to hold anyone morally responsible for their actions. If Judas' betrayal was fore-ordained by God and was necessary for the salvation of sinners, then he must be in heaven now, right? It would be absurd -- and the apex of injustice -- for him to be sent to Hell or to whatever punishment supposedly awaits sinners if he had no choice but to do what he did. That said, it is not at all obvious that Judas' betrayal of Jesus was necessary to Jesus' execution by the Romans. It seems highly likely that the Roman authorities would have caught up with Jesus in short order. He had lots of enemies who wanted to see him crucified. And even if not, since Jesus purportedly knew that God wanted him to be crucified, he assuredly would ultimately have turned himself in.

- dhurtado

January 31, 2010 at 6:10pm

I think Tebow is a prideful little sob who seems to think he is a supreme agent of Gods divine plan, someone should tell him dude it is football, a game, it is a distraction from what is important in life so don't take yourself so seriously you big dumb f. but I got no problem with the ad (except for its implicit assumption that the world without Tim Tebow in it would be a tragic one, I think such an ad would be better if it had as its story someone not famous). They want to spend that money, that is fine. I am far more annoyed that CBS didn't have the balls or decency to run a harmless ad for a gay dating web site. This line is stupid though: You do have to give Tebow credit for self-sacrifice. Yeah, sure. If they think he can win, they will draft him and pay him, and I am sure what he will sign for is enough to assure a comfortable life, so spare me "he is maybe losing millions." That is just asinine greed talking. I dunno ray, I haven't got a clue as to God's "plan" Our lives are but shadows of shadows, I doubt life is as mechanicistic as you lay out, I think randomness is the point.

- blackton

January 31, 2010 at 6:36pm