# Bill Maher stirs controversy with Tim Tebow tweet **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 28, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655 "2011-12-28T19:28:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/261 "2011-12-31T12:34:52Z")
I wonder if praying to beat another is a selfish gesture, it seems one is asking God to make the other’s lose. I of course don’t believe God cares who wins or not,and if a team wins it is because they had the best stragedy. And, didn’t Jesus abhor the public demonstration of the religiousness of the Pharisees? Maher may have been out of bounds with his remark, but I think if Tebow wants to pray that is his right. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/262 "2011-12-31T13:31:24Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > Since Jesus is not known to have left a “Big Book Of Supernatural Things Definitions” nor has one been dug up in any archeological site, your expectations of dictionary definitions from Jesus are a joke: you must apply the overall philosophy and concepts as a whole to our modern practices. Where, exactly, did I say that Jesus must provide some sort of dictionary definition? I made no such claim. Rather, it is **Disgruntled Penguin** who claims that Jesus did indeed provide such a definition. I’m just asking him to substantiate that claim, since this is central to his very argument. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/263 "2011-12-31T13:32:51Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I wonder if praying to beat another is a selfish gesture, it seems one is asking God to make the other’s lose. Since we don’t know that Tebow is praying for the other team to lose, I don’t think that’s particularly relevant to this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/264 "2011-12-31T13:33:25Z")
Who’s stopping him from praying? People are commenting on whether praying in public is douchey. If he wants zero comments on his religious practices, he’s perfectly free to THINK any crazy shit that comes to his mind, 24/7. It’s when he lets all of us in on his thinking that he becomes subject to our comments. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/265 "2011-12-31T13:35:55Z")
> [@kenetic](#): > > It’s not that people have a problem with Tebrow or his faith, it’s that he needs to make such a spectacle of it, and that Maher’s being criticized for making jokes at his expense. I see other football players making far more extravagant displays on the field when they score a touchdown, yet they seldom receive anything close to this amount of ridicule. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/266 "2011-12-31T14:15:38Z")
Because an “I rock” touchdown dance, while still douchey, is fundamentally philosophically different from a public statement of “God likes me best”. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/267 "2011-12-31T14:27:41Z")
I wasn’t aware that Tebow was claiming that God liked him best. Neither are you. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/268 "2011-12-31T14:45:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I wasn’t aware I know. With all due respect, Diana ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/269 "2011-12-31T14:50:53Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Since we don’t know that Tebow is praying for the other team to lose, I don’t think that’s particularly relevant to this discussion. For what it’s worth, IIRC Peyton Manning once explained that he prays (a) to do his best, and (b) that no one gets hurt. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/270 "2011-12-31T16:34:45Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I see other football players making far more extravagant displays on the field when they score a touchdown, yet they seldom receive anything close to this amount of ridicule. Why is that? You’re joking, right? Because when elaborate touchdown celebrations were at their peak (maybe 10-15 years ago) they were getting made fun of all the time. See Jerry McGuire or Baseketball for examples. That’s just off the top of my head. People don’t like intense douchebaggery. The only difference is that Tebow’s douchebaggery is religious in nature, so some people are going to consider anything less than total support to be some sort of anti-religious attitude. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/271 "2011-12-31T16:48:09Z")
I’m going to go out on a limb here and posit that Tebow has made some public declarations of his conservative political positions in the past, hence the reaction from many of the posters here. I mean really, “douchebaggery” over an action that has no affect on anyone else just cheapens the meaning of that word. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/272 "2011-12-31T16:49:22Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Who’s stopping him from praying? People are commenting on whether praying in public is douchey. If he wants zero comments on his religious practices, he’s perfectly free to THINK any crazy shit that comes to his mind, 24/7. It’s when he lets all of us in on his thinking that he becomes subject to our comments. Maher’s free to tweet away as well. And to extend that, everyone is likewise free to think Maher’s an ass and that it’s silly that some of the atheists on this board are inexplicably acting in a butthurt manner over a guy praying. (Oh, I forgot, this is _intense_ douchebaggery, so it’s to be expected that atheists would be irritated by a guy wordlessly praying to an entity they don’t believe in.) Land of the free here, ain’t it grand? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/273 "2011-12-31T17:00:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb here and posit that Tebow has made some public declarations of his conservative political positions in the past, hence the reaction from many of the posters here. > > I mean really, “douchebaggery” over an action that has no affect on anyone else just cheapens the meaning of that word. _I just scored in a game! Watch me kneel like a knight! Watch me be super-duper-fucking pious! Aren’t you impressed with how supplicant I am?_ — Tim Tebow ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/274 "2011-12-31T17:04:16Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Maher’s free to tweet away as well. Great. Now STFU, because he’s perfectly free to tweet, and we’ll all be happy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/275 "2011-12-31T17:04:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb here and posit that Tebow has made some public declarations of his conservative political positions in the past, hence the reaction from many of the posters here. Based on…? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/276 "2011-12-31T17:18:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Based on…? Yeah, I, for one, have never heard him speak. I don’t follow sports so the only thing I know about him is from photos. Although, I had assumed he was a conservative. Since the brand of vapid Christianity that would lead to absurd bowing like that tends to be on the conservative side. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/277 "2011-12-31T17:20:00Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Here’s an idea, instead of mocking a sports guy who’s actually thus far a pretty good role model, maybe go after some of the thugs and other ne’er do wells infesting various leagues. Last I checked Tebow wasn’t off knocking up a different woman each week, snorting coke of hookers’ asses, or shooting anyone. This. The world is full of assholes who beg to be verbally crucified because of their own actions. AFAIC Maher suffers from Hollywood ASSpergers Syndrome. He’s incapable of relating to people around him. If anyone doesn’t fit into his little hipster world he pounces on them like a school bully. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/278 "2011-12-31T17:20:05Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Great. Now STFU, because he’s perfectly free to tweet, and we’ll all be happy. No, no, that means we won’t have the opportunity to opine on Tebow’s intense douchebaggery. This is an important debate. But you’re right, it’s really just the one side getting tied up in knots. Nothing from the anti-Tebow crowd suggestive of the need to STFU. Here. let me make this easy for any subsequent posters. Just copy and paste this: > [@](#): > > Give me a break. How can you take offense at [THAT GUY] for doing that? That’s just what he does. If you don’t like it, pay it no attention. > > Now [THAT OTHER GUY], he’s a different story. He’s crossed a line, and it’s natural and to be expected that it will elicit strong negative reactions. Edit the names as appropriate. This thread is a riot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/279 "2011-12-31T17:21:55Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > everyone is likewise free to think Maher’s an ass and that it’s silly that some of the atheists on this board are inexplicably acting in a butthurt manner over a guy praying. > [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Great. Now STFU, because he’s perfectly free to tweet, and we’ll all be happy. Both of you tone it down. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655/280 "2011-12-31T17:24:40Z")
Are you kidding me? Unbelievable sometimes, this fucking board. I need to tone it down? Got it. Duly noted. God almighty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-maher-stirs-controversy-with-tim-tebow-tweet/607655.md?page=15)