Tim Tebow and the Atheocracy

First Things is a magazine devoted to exploring issues of religion and public life, and like it or not the biggest such issue today is the debate over Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. I’m not at all surprised that many his find his public displays of piety off-putting, but I have been struck by the vehemence of the reaction. Take this example from the Jewish Week :

I want to root for the guy, but I’m afraid of what will happen if the hulky Denver Bronco quarterback continues to pull off what is fast becoming the Greatest Gridiron Story Ever Told.  [ . . . ]

If Tebow wins the Super Bowl, against all odds, it will buoy his faithful, and emboldened faithful can do insane things, like burning mosques, bashing gays and indiscriminately banishing immigrants.  While America has become more inclusive since Jerry Falwell’s first political forays, a Tebow triumph could set those efforts back considerably.

Burning mosques? Really? Does this rabbi have any friends who balance an orthodox faith with conservative politics? If so, does he think they are always a touchdown or field goal away from religious violence?

A relatively calm writer at Salon suggests that Tebow shut up :

Many of his values are not mine, and I wish he would understand that proclaiming them publicly could create divisions on his own team. As former Denver quarterback Jake Plummer told a reporter, “I wish he’d just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates.” A much stronger reaction occurred just before Tebow’s rookie season at an NFL scouting combine. Tebow suggested the group pray; a player suggested that he “shut the f*** up.”

What these reactions remind us of is that religious people have no monopoly on hysteria or intolerance—-far, far from it. A former First Things editor wrote a not very convincing book arguing that America faced the threat of an intolerant, theocratic right. Today I see much more heated rhetoric coming from the intolerant, secular left. Maybe not enough to justify talk of an ” atheocracy ,” but certainly more than was used to raise the last alarm.

P.S. For more on l’affaire Tebow, see Elizabeth Scalia and Tom Haine .