...even if Tebow is not. Until the Protestant reformation, Catholicism had a monopoly on miracles. The bubonic plague changed that. The priests urged prayer, but instead were themselves felled by the disease. The people, seeing that Catholicism had no power over the disease, turned first to mysticism --- and ultimately the new Protestant religions that began to appear. Of course the church didn't go down without a fight. Jews and others were accused of witchcraft and murdered. After all, the church couldn't be wrong. It must be Satan...
Churches have always needed miracles to justify their existence. In modern America, sports heroes are ideal choices. What they do routinely seems miraculous to the average person. When events in games are unusual, it is an easy step to start assigning credit to the almighty. Until recent decades, it was always easy to find a nice Caucasian fellow to represent Christian miracles...But lately it has been tough...
Oh sure, a lot of black Christian sports heroes have done any number of incredible things, and, some churches are happy to have heroes and "miracles" of any kind in the modern world. After all, it is better to have a black Christian hero than a Muhammad Ali or a Tiger Woods, eh?
But the rise of white evangelicals in the last 25 years meant that not just any Christian would do...There are many white evangelical athletes who succeed, and a number of them have had brief moments of fame. Kurt Warner was one (as a Superbowl quarterback), who was bagging groceries only a few years earlier.
So, after Tim Tebow's (admittedly) marvelous college football career, and his relentless marketing for Jesus, a lot of people had their eyes on him:
1) The NFL seeing a potential marketing phenom for an important, wealthy group of people.
2) The TV Networks, for the same reason
3) The sports media, for the same reason
4) The Republican party, for equally cynical reasons
5) The political Christian right (the Falwell, Robertson, Tony Perkins types)
The great thing for them was that a series of unusual events DID occur, culminating in the overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers --- a game in which Tebow threw for 316 yards (as in John 3-16).
But just like bad gamblers, all the wins were GIGANTIC, and all the losses were ignored & forgotten. Tebow's Denver Broncos ended up 8-8, including 3 straight losses. Because another team lost, the Broncos made the NFL playoffs. No football person thinks that Tebow is even a "good" quarterback yet --- maybe someday, maybe not. But evangelical Christianity can't wait to find out.
After the win over the Steelers, FORTY-THREE percent of those surveyed believed that God was intervening on Tebow's behalf.
It's been a bad couple of centuries for miracle seekers. The miracles have been few and far between. Science has conquered disease, the sky, outer space, and now even inner space (the brain) to some degree. Christians have had a tough time justifying their religion...Jews, Gays, Buddhists, even a "Kenyan Muslim" --- all kinds of people have had great success without praising Jesus.
It's not enough for them to be the majority. They are angry that they can't tell everyone how to run their lives (as in the good old days). They've invented persecution fantasies (e.g. "the war on Christmas") to keep their masses angry. That keeps the fires of hatred burning until they can figure something out.
They desperately need a miracle so the unwashed masses will see the light --so that we will finally understand the "good news" and convert.
Tim Tebow is a useful pawn in this game, whether he wants to be or not. Rational people can no longer count on the bulk of American people to believe in science. The "American Idolization" of the country means that large chunks don't even believe you have to work hard to become famous/important. Magical thinking rules the day. Republicans have little to offer but magical thinking.
In bad times, as we've learned in the last century, hopeless people turn to false prophets to save them. After 30 years of mostly bad times, white lower & middle class people are on the lookout for miracles. And with the powerful assistance of Madison Ave, mass media, and the NFL on Tebow's side, the danger should be apparent. Senator Tebow? Vice President Tebow?