{"id":2460,"date":"2012-01-12T14:04:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T14:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/01\/tim-tebow-displaying-religion-and-the-myth-of-marginalized-christianity-in-the-united-states.html"},"modified":"2012-01-12T14:04:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T14:04:00","slug":"tim-tebow-displaying-religion-and-the-myth-of-marginalized-christianity-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/01\/tim-tebow-displaying-religion-and-the-myth-of-marginalized-christianity-in-the-united-states.html","title":{"rendered":"Tim Tebow, Displaying Religion, and the Myth of Marginalized Christianity in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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<\/a>by Andre E. Johnson<\/span>
Editor: Rhetoric Race and Religion<\/span>

<\/span>I want to start by saying that I have no problem at all with Tim Tebow and I can understand some of the fascination with him. As he illustrates in the commercial,\u00a0\u201cThey Said,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0many have doubted Tebow and he currently uses those words as fuel to drive him to succeed. This story resonates with me because many have told me at different points throughout my life that I could not \u201cdo\u201d and for a long time, I had a chip on my shoulder wanting to prove the naysayers wrong.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I also do not have a problem with Tebow \u201cbeing\u201d who he is. He is an Evangelical Christian and for him at least, that means\u00a0displays<\/i>\u00a0his Christianity in public. Whether he is thanking his \u201cLord and Savior, Jesus Christ\u201d before every press conference, whether he decides to display scripture passages on his \u201ceye black\u201d during football games, or whether he does the now infamous \u201cTebowing\u201d after every touchdown, I am sure that Tebow believes himself to be authentic and honest with his display. Matter of fact, for Tebow not to display his religion publicly, would be to denounce Jesus and incur the wrath of Luke 9:26, \u201cIf anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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What I do have a problem with is the backdrop in which Tebow feels the need to display his religious affiliation. For many, to claim publicly \u201cJesus is Lord and Savior\u201d goes further than just a confession of faith. It also plays to the belief that Christianity is somehow under attack. Tebow and people of his mindset believe Christianity to be some\u00a0marginalized religion<\/i>\u00a0in the United States and therefore, to proclaim publicly Jesus as Lord and Savior is really a radical thing to do. Fed a steady diet of \u201cWar on Christmas\u201d and other media derived \u201cAttacks on Religion,\u201d and my personal favorite, Obama\u2019s \u201cWar on Religion,\u201d\u00a0many would argue that Tebow is acting\u00a0prophetically<\/i>\u00a0by this proclamation. By praying on the field and wearing scripture references under his eyes, Tebow is resisting the establishment and following Jesus\u2014even if it means offending people, losing friends, endorsements or losing something meaningful as a result. Many would proclaim that Tebow is facing the barrage of attacks\u2014not because of his play, but because he is a Christian who would openly confess his Christianity. Moreover, by doing so, Tebow is a Christian hero\u2014upheld by Jesus\u2014to endure these attacks against his faith. Tebow and others like him become role models for Christians; especially young Christians navigating through life discerning their options and how they can be authentically Christian in a hostile Christian world.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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However, the problem with the marginalized Christianity belief (in the United States anyway), is that it is a myth. Though the numbers are dropping, according to the\u00a0Religious Identification Survey<\/a>, though the number have decrease (and I have my own theories on that), we still make up 76% of people who claim any religious affiliation. Matter of fact, according to the same survey, people not affiliated with any religion; affectionately called the \u201cNones,\u201d make up 15% which is more than people who are members of other religions (3.9%). Christians demand and get more air time in the media more than any other religious group. There are television and radio networks dedicated to Christians and Christianity. One would shutter to think if there was a Muslim religious channel as prominent as say TBN, the WORD, or GOD TV. There are churches are on every corner or every city and town in\u00a0America. I wonder what would be the response to building a Mosque. I am sorry, we do not have to wonder\u2014we already know the response<\/a>. We Christians can form Christian family oriented groups (no matter how small) and almost be assured that we will get media coverage. We can threaten\u00a0to burn Korans<\/a>\u00a0or even get a major corporation\u00a0to pull advertising<\/a>\u00a0from a\u00a0TV show<\/a>\u00a0because the leaders of the \u201cpowerful\u201d\u00a0Florida Family Association<\/a>\u00a0declared that the show was propaganda designed to depict Muslims as\u00a0\u201cordinary folks\u201d while excluding \u201cmany Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Moreover, thanks to the recent\u00a0Supreme Court decision<\/a>, we good church folks can openly discriminate against employees by claiming that what the discriminated employee did was against our religious beliefs.I do not belief the justices had Hindus and\u00a0Scientologists in mind when rendering this\u00a0decision.\u00a0And one cannot think of running for president unless she or he has a \u201cpersonal relationship with Jesus\u201d (Romney is about to find out if his personal relationship with Jesus is acceptable or not to religious conservatives). So to claim oneself a Christian in this Christian supported nation; to openly wear scripture references under one\u2019s eyes or to pray openly on the football field or anywhere else is not being prophetic\u2014its being safe and assured that you have millions of people who will come out and support you in all that you do.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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No, we are no longer that little underground movement that continued after Jesus\u2019 execution, that offered a new way to live, by loving all and standing up to the Empire when proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior (and not Caesar) really could have meant losing something; even one\u2019s life. We are now part of the Empire and to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior will not get you in any trouble at all\u2014matter of fact, as Tebow and others soon find out, others may reward you nicely for saying it. Just displaying religion it turns out is good enough.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Rev. Andre E. Johnson, PhD is the Dr. James L. Netters Professor of Rhetoric & Religion and African American Studies at\u00a0Memphis\u00a0Theological\u00a0Seminary and Senior Pastor at Gifts of Life Ministries in Memphis, Tennessee. He is also the editor of the\u00a0Rhetoric Race and Religion<\/a>\u00a0blog<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Andre E. JohnsonEditor: Rhetoric Race and ReligionI want to start by saying that I have no problem at all with Tim Tebow and I can understand some of the fascination with him. As he illustrates in the commercial,\u00a0\u201cThey Said,\u201d\u00a0many have doubted Tebow and he currently uses those words as fuel to drive him to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTim Tebow, Displaying Religion, and the Myth of Marginalized Christianity in the United States<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Andre E. 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