REVEREND DOUTHAT EXPLAINS THAT WE'RE REPULSED BY TIM TEBOW BECAUSE WE CAN'T STAND HOW NICE HE IS
(or something like that)

New York Times God-botherer Ross Douthat ponders the question of why Tim Tebow is controversial:

Why is Tim Tebow such a fascinating and polarizing figure? Not just because he claims to be religious; that claim is commonplace among football stars and ordinary Americans alike. Rather, it's because his conduct -- kind, charitable, chaste, guileless -- seems to actually vindicate his claim to be in possession of a life-altering truth.

Ah, I see. That must be it. Tebow is "polarizing" because he's both Christian and apparently in possession of a number of virtues identified as Christian, which would make him the first such person many of evil, angry secularists have ever encountered in our lives of whom that's true. Or perhaps Douthat is saying that people who hate Tebow hate everyone who seems to be both Christian and charitable. That must be why liberals routinely go to Habitat for Humanity building sites and throw rocks at Jimmy Carter while he's hammering nails.

Why is it impossible for Tebow's fan club in the right-wing media to acknowledge the fact that it's the not the Christianity of Tebow that gets up people's noses, it's the look-at-me-look-at-me way that Tebow evangelizes for his religion at every possible opportunity. It's the eyebalack with the Bible verses and the kneeling on the 30-yard line, not the belief system itself?

I remember when Dennis Rodman of the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls emerged with rainbow-colored hair, a then-surprising number of tattoos, and a penchant for cross-dressing in off-the-court public appearances. I thought it was amusing -- but if there were people who didn't like him, I can understand that. He probably offended some conservatives, as well as some beer-and-a-shot sports fans who just want players to look, y'know, regular. But, as I recall, he acknowledged his provocations. He understood that what he was doing was going to be somewhat "polarizing." (And he didn't use time-outs to get on-court touch-ups of his dye job. In fact "between the lines" he played the way he'd played when his hair was its natural color.)

Tebow and the pundits in his amen corner seem to think that it's the faith that drives us crazy, not the strenuous efforts at attention-getting. Well, sorry -- it's the attention-getting.