I don’t watch football, but I have more or less been forced to know who Tim Tebow is because everyone is talking about him. Plus, you can’t really surf the Internet without seeing someone tebowing.
Tebowing is the act of dropping to one knee and praying thusly named such after Tim Tebow. As the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos, Tebow performs this gesture to thank God for his success during games. And tebowing has taken off like crazy, with videos and photos of people tebowing popping up all over the Internet.
But, this week, Bill Maher came under fire for a Twitter post in which he mentioned tebowing. Maher wrote (with an obscene words removed), “”Wow, Jesus just [screwed] #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere … Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler “Hey, Buffalo’s killing them.”
Maher wrote this in response to the Buffalo Bills’ 40-14 romping over the Broncos on December 24 in which Tebow threw four interceptions.
Needless to say, Tebow fans are not taking this lying down.
People are now calling for an HBO boycott until Maher, who hosts the HBO show “Real Time with Bill Maher,” is taken off the air. Fox News contributor called Maher “disgusting vile trash”
To me, this is all much to do about nothing. Was the tweet sacrilegious? Probably. Was it funny? Could be if you aren’t offended by it. Should Maher be vilified for it? No, and here’s why I say that.
First, Bill Maher is first and foremost a comedian. Take away the movies and television shows away and at the heart of Maher, you will find a comedian. He may not be one whose jokes you appreciate, but there is no one comedian that everyone loves.
Second, Bill Maher is an atheist. Do I agree with that? Not as a Christian, but if I wish people to respect my religious convictions, I must respect theirs as well. Knowing that Maher is an atheist, I can see how making a comment like this would not seem offense to him in the least.
Third, Bill Maher isno stranger to controversy. After the 9/11 attacks, Maher said we were the cowardly ones, “lobbing cruise missile from two thousand miles away” while the terrorists who stayed on the planes that hit the buildings, weren’t cowardly. In his 2008 film Religulous, Maher mocked may different religions. Some comedians, and stop me if I am wrong, make their living by riling up others with jokes that may be uncomfortable for some (or many). Sam Kinison, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin come to mind.
At the end of the day, I doubt this little ruckus will hurt the fan base of either Tebow or Maher. After all, Maher has 872,000 Twitter followers…100,000 more than Tebow.