SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND (GO!) STATE
So, Tim Tebow has to walk past a church sign suggesting people pray for him every day, or at least live in a town where someone, presumably in order to catch the eye of parishioners who’d rather head on down to Panera, grab a bagel, and spend Sunday morning doing something else rather than sit in church, puts his name on a church sign to attract attention:
“I’m going to pray that [Tebow] is true to his faith because if he falls and gets caught up in some kind of scandal it will be bad for Christianity,” Brown said.
Brown doesn’t know Tebow but says the quarterback is an important role model. The minister says if Tebow gets into trouble, then the image of Christians could suffer.
“I know the story of David, so we know it’s possible for all of us to fall,” Brown said.
If the Crusades and Worship Jamz haven’t done it by now, it’s not going to happen if Tim Tebow gets caught doing anything remotely un-Christian. What will happen is that people who see this will see you as a hucksterish attention whore who uses our beloved weepy baby-rhino in the most cliched and cheap of manners to drive just one more soul into that church and get their tithes. Oh, and that we need to crack out one of the internet’s Bronze Age Classics, the church sign generator, to do justice to other church signs in the college football universe.
(HT: Sports by Brooks.)





















1
blon says:
I was going to leave a post that basically said that y’all (SECers) are actually stranger than we are about religion and football. Then I got to the end of the article. The pastor…”Brown, a graduate of Texas A&M and a native of Wichita Falls, Texas”.
Yes, that sounds just about right.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
2
meatybob says:
I still pray for Friday Cheesecake.
OH GOD WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME!!!
September 30th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
3
Crabapple Buck says:
I always play golf on Sunday mornings so I don’t appear to be a hypocrite. However, I was told by some who would know that church attendance in North Fulton county was down on September 28 due to God smiting the Dawgs and possible hangovers. Those that did make it out of their homes waited in line for gas.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
4
4.0 Point Stance says:
Love the signs. As for the social commentary, please take it to beliefnet. Mixing politics and football is like mixing dog shit and peach cobbler.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
5
DC Trojan says:
I see what you did there with the Christian Scientists.
I hear they’ve retained Oregon State’s d-line in case Rey comes to rehab his knee by chasing them down. Jacquizz is waiting in the sacristy to blow past him as well.
(Do Christian Scientist churches have sacristies? Or is that just residual confusion on my part from Catholic HS?)
September 30th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
6
Orson Swindle says:
Ooooh! We touched God!
September 30th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
7
Ag20 says:
blon, I can’t tell…is this your typical “poor Aggies” rhetoric, or a veiled praise of Big XII love of football? I am starting to believe you have an “Edsbs.com mentioned A&M; submit typical response?” reminder on your computer.
If, however, this is a “shot” at Wichita Falls, I am all for it.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
8
GamecockTony says:
@4 – that’s considered a delicacy in Starkville.
/don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out
September 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
9
blon says:
#4
I see from the link that you are a Stanford graduate? That explains it. Down here, football is religion and we see absolutely no separation between the two. We pray for wins on Sunday.
The saddest day in Texas was when SMU left the conference. It was a HUGE deal when the Methodists played the Baptists. With the outcome you always knew who God favored that year.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
10
Larry Langolier says:
Revelation 6:12 “I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red.”
Red and black? But you probably already knew there’d be UGA fans at the Apocalypse.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
11
Holly says:
Another hour, another Texas threadjack, world without end, amen.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
12
blon says:
#7
No, I’m in mourning as are you, I assume. The family is in crisis… this year just stinks. I hate to see A&M do as badly as they have. I’m hoping that they will improve because there is a tough schedule ahead.
I was actually referring to the very conservative, religious types that do attend A&M. Not unlike a lot of the rural areas of the state. This isn’t a nasty comment, just an observation.
And Wichita Falls is a pit. Why someone would want to live there is a mystery to me.
Being an Aggie you will enjoy this. Did you know that when they were planning to start Tx Tech, they originally went to Wichita Falls? They gave the city a choice: an asylum or the university. We know what they chose. The state institution is still there and Lubbock has Tx. Tech. So Wichitonians (I don’t know what you actually call them) aren’t as stupid as we thought?
September 30th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
13
John says:
Orson,
For those attending Yeshiva, the “spread offense” would be referred to as the “schmear offense.”
September 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
14
ChemE93 says:
Just a guess, but I think Brown was likely referring to those without irreversibly hardened hearts.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
15
johnny douche says:
http://trashpile.net/upload/old/1127726712868.jpg
September 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
16
Gen. Stoopnagle says:
@ 4.0: Wouldn’t that be grand? Not having to look at a bunch of stupid campaign lapel stickers on every jackass at the game?
September 30th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
17
meatybob says:
Blon –
Arlen sucks and Wichita Falls rules, and you want to know why? Because I am only 5 minutes away from the great state of Oklahoma! Go Sooners! Ta ta da DA, ta ta da DA, ta ta da DA, ….
That, my friends, is a scene from “King of the Hill”, one of the great shows on TV, and way better than the blantent Simpson’s rip off “Family Guy” which is only entertaining to those to are evil and/or simple.
My political commentary of the day.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
18
Raider says:
Ah, yes, typical elitism from blon, thus confirming my own personal sterotypes about UT alum.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
19
meatybob says:
BTW, I am an engineer, so correct spelling is beneath me. I only spell “blantent” the way it SHOULD be spelled.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
20
Ag20 says:
17 & 18:
Kudos to you for throwing that out. Excellent scene, excellent show. If I’m not mistaken, at least one of the shopkeep and/or his son was missing sleeves. +5.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
21
Ryno says:
John @13 +1
That was quite clever.
And now – I think I’ll head to Goldbergs for some Sundried Tomato cream cheese and an asiago bagel.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
22
Anonymous IV says:
The point that Blon made can be found in the book “Runnin’ with the big dogs : the true, unvarnished story of the Texas-Oklahoma football wars” by Mike Shropshire. I am sorry that I do not recall the page number that mentions the Wichita Falls asylum/ university trade off.
The book is a good read and has some pretty good lines.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:08 pm