So the SuperBowl has come and gone, and what a game it was! In the previous week or two, there's been arguably more attention on the upcoming Tim Tebow/Focus on the Family commercial that would air during the game, than the actual teams playing in the game.
We heard all sorts of thing from CBS about how it would recount Tim Tebow's mother, Pam's, decision in the Phillipines to not have an abortion, which the doctors suggested she have due to her illness, and how he would grow up to be the Heisman trophy winning quarterback of the Florida Gators.
And Pro-Choice advocates went crazy over this, and I expressed some of my own issue with the ad, namely that it may create a false image of that specific situation as it applies to women all over the world. Yes, it worked out for her, and that's great. However, there are many many women who will get sick, or who's pregnancy could kill them, or the child if they go to term who will not have some "Tebow-like" ending. They very well could die. And I just would hope that people wouldn't be like "well, look at what happened with Tim Tebow's mom, why should I listen to MY doctor?" That would be unfortunate.
However, one thing that the Pro-life people don't seem to take into consideration, is that Tebow's story could be viewed as the ultimate Pro-Choice ad. She had the choice to either have an abortion, or have the child. She CHOSE to have the child. Why would people who make the choice to have the child, deny others the right to have that very same choice?
Anyway, the ad has aired and has proven to be quite anti-climactic. It was pretty tame, and you'd be hardpressed to find anything objectionable in it.
Although that hasn't stopped those who are vehemently anti-Christian and anti-Focus on the Family, and who are strongly Pro-Choice. Despite the evidence that this is NOT an Anti-Abortion ad, rather a celebration of family, there are still those on the Left that are like rabid dogs around a bloody steak.
First, here's the ad:
Um....that's it? That's what the furor was about? THAT was the big controversial ad that had people up in arms either defending or attacking it? In the immortal words of Davy in those Mountain Dew Ads, "we got hosed, Tommy, we got hosed".
In fact, John Amato over at Crooks and Liars has a brief piece up today about how it appears that CBS possibly pulled a fast one on the public by hyping up this commercial into something it wasn't.
It wasn't really an anti-choice ad at all. It was a CELEBRATION OF FAMILY ad. And truly, who could argue with that message, of loving your family and worrying for their health? It made no mention of abortion, and only the briefest of references to his birth. So who could possibly be mad at this still?
Well, if you said random people posting on the internet, you would be right! Ding Ding Ding Ding.
I checked out a post on Huffington Post, about the video after it aired, and there were some pretty ugly comments, and there were many people who despite there really being nothing even remotely political or offensive in the message, were struggling to find SOMETHING to attack.
Comments attacking Tim and his mother, making comments about "Where's the father?" and making various "some family" type remarks.
The overwhelming consensus by those who aren't simply attacking the Tebows because they feel they need to be mad at someone, is that it's not as much as what was in the ad, it's who sponsored the ad and what those people are all about.
Focus on the Family, in my opinion, and many others is not a good organization. They are an extremist organization that puts all their money into denying the equal rights for all Americans. They actually preach to people that the reasons that people "become gay" is due to pornography, spousal abuse and abuse.
Yeah. I've heard of many homosexuals that "became gay" because their mother got knocked around by their dad when they were a kid. Or they snuck time with a Playboy or Penthouse magazine. That definitely "made them gay".
Also, James Dobson, the head of Focus on the Family, has stated that "Spongebob Squarepants" is a vicious conspiracy to promote homosexuality.
And who can forget the brilliance of Focus on the Family opposing a political candidate because the candiate was gay, and their vicious attack on him:
What the hell man? Seriously. The fact that these people have ANY sway in politics and society is just sad and pathetic and quite frankly very scary.
So I'm not a Focus on the Family fan or a James Dobson fan. But this commercial was not offensive, and it was perfectly fine.
I just find it interesting that, as of right now, the Huffington Post poll had 37.64% of the people who think that "The Super Bowl Should Not Include This Type Of Message".
What type of message? That family is great? That family is important? It said nothing about Abortion or anything like that, although you could argue that it was implied or that everyone by now KNOWS about the Tebow birth.
Much ado about nothing, in my opinion. Some people will complain about anything.
