Tim Tebow & Eric Liddell
I am not a church going person. I haven’t attended Mass in over a quarter of a century so this is coming from somebody with firm credentials for not having a bone to fight on the whole thing.
Apparently some folks are less than happy about Tim Tebow’s kneeling. It rubs them the wrong way that he expresses his fervor on the field. You know what guys? Suck it up and deal with it. He feels he owes you nothing but to The Lord and I say let him be.
I am struck at the total lack of class I see when people attack Tim Tebow. It is petty and downright abusive but the joke is on them since I doubt the kid is faking it.
All this Tebow Hating reminds me of the movie Chariots of Fire. One of the many sub-plots was the case of Eric Liddell, The Flying Scotsman. Liddell was a Christian Missionary and felt very strong about his Christianity to the point of refusing to run a qualifying heat for the 100 meters in the Paris Olympics of 1924 because it fell on a Sunday, the day of the Lord.
The 100 meters race was the best event for him. Nobody doubted he was going to get the Gold Medal for it. And this were the times where the Olympic Games were not only highly respected but a true measure of national pride for the countries that participated and that is to say there were taken with a high dose of seriousness. When Liddell announced he was not competing, the pressure that came to bear on him was enormous: From fellow team Olympians to the Olympic Committee to even the King of England, everybody pushed on Liddell to put his beliefs aside and run the heat. He refused earning him an avalanche of condemnations and criticism and being eliminated from the 100 Meter race.
Lidell went on to participate on the 400 meter race, not his best but he’d been preparing for it. Right before the race, a member of the U.S. Olympic team slipped him a note which simply quoted Samuel 1, 2:30 “Those who Honor Me I will Honor.” Liddell not only went on to win the 400 meters, but creamed everybody in it, including the favorites of the American team.
Here is a clip from the movie.
I guess me and many others are just plain tired of NFL players behaving like caricatures of themselves:Stupid, highly egotistical & faithless morons. Tebow represents something different and even fresh in our times. And I guess many others resent what he is and represents and have no problem bashing him for what he is (but surprisingly cannot complain much about his game) and do it in a less than classy manner.
Oh well.