Focus on the Family's Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad: Pro-lifers jumping on the bandwagon before they even see the commercial

• My problem with this ad is that it isn't true. If she were actually offered an abortion in the Philippines during that time frame, her doctor would have gone to jail. Why? Because abortion was illegal in the Philippines. Tell us - why the need for the lie?

• Tebow takes a stand for what he believes in. And this is wrong? I hate Bud Light, but I'm sure there will be commercials for that. And half-naked women are offensive. Think there will be some of those there too? Great post on this over at: http://redletterbelievers.blogspot.com/2010/01/super-bowl-ad-tim-tebow-christian.html

• Courtney, Terry, Anon, if you leave the fetus alone, what will it become? The Catholic Church has done so much good for mankind regarding art, academics, health care, helping the poor, helping the orphan, women, defending all races, it is all races.. etc.. and yet, all you can do is point out some "facts" as you throw the baby out with the bat water. Sadly, you sound like the same old ridiculous, uneducated, biased, hateful, confused, person with an axe to grind we find every night on MSNBC and CNN. You folks have bought into the lie, and i hope you listen to your heart.. your heart will tell that those babies in the womb, who are breathing, viable, active souls, are real. If you leave them alone, what will they become? wkm

• I find it ironic that the anti-abortion people are using Tim Tebow in their ad. I get that he survived a potential abortion. However, if his mother really had doctors telling her to get an abortion for health reasons, then that is the exact situation where the right to an abortion can never be taken away even if the procedure is made illegal in this country. Since the Government cannot mandate a situation in which a person is condemned to die.

• Great educational info, Courtney. Thanks! It's always good to know about abortifacients in case the witch-burning right decides to hate on women even more than they do now and get abortions outlawed. Remember Dudes. Vasectomy and orchiectomy cure abortion.

• Quick question, Terry ... Are you one of the pro-lifers who are just fine with war, capital punishment, and letting hundreds of thousands of Americans die for lack of affordable health insurance?

• What a despicable farce cannabis prohibition is. Anyone who's been paying even the slightest bit of attention knows that alcohol is FAR more dangerous and deadly. I'm in shock that Obama appointed a thug like Michelle Leonhart to head the DEA. I was an overall supporter of his, now he is a hated enemy.

• Wow Courtney...got much time on your hands?! LOL Quick question...are you one of the pro-choicers who also believe in "population control"?

• Great argument and great use of the FACTS, Courtney. However, I am kind of sorry you went to all that trouble as the religious right doesn't respond well to logical, rational, factual arguments such as yours. Keep up the good work, though =)

• Super Bowl, Super Bowl. Really taken my soul. Here again u've come! pleasure, brought more than some. I'm looking forward to attend the games; I even got ma tix from Ticketsinventory.com and waiting for February! Come on February! what surprise u carry! who'll win who'll loose! the latter is a moose.

• You pro-life Christians have been totally played by the political right. The Bible <i>never</i> discusses abortion, even though it existed long before (and during) Jesus' time. Yet it is religion's #1 political issue. Abortion was and is a non-issue for god, according to the bible. Your god does not believe you are given life at conception. The Bible explicitly states it is at the first breath. There are several places in the Bible that support the pro-choice view, and zero that support the pro-life view. Look at Genesis 38. In this story, Judah mistakes Tamar as a prostitute, and orders her to be burned to death, despite the fact she is three months pregnant. If her twin fetuses had been considered persons, the law would have delayed her execution at least until her twins were born. (The execution order was later lifted, not because of this consideration, but because Judah learned Tamar's true identity.) In fact the only thing the Bible does say regarding any punishment for abortion (Exodus 21:22-23), is that a child in the womb is not the same as a child outside of the womb. The penalty for killing a child in the womb (w/o the parent's permission) is a fine, totally <b>unlike</b> the punishment for killing another person (accidental or not), which was death. And surely out of all the teeny tiny infractions mentioned in the Old Testament, and the amount of repetition of the big sins, god would have mentioned "thou shall not commit abortion" at some point. After all, he mentioned you shouldn't drink blood or wear poly-cotton blends. I mean that guy totally covered ALL of the bases. But if god didn't see fit to mention it, then Jesus could have. And if not Jesus, than Paul. So on and so forth. But not a single person did. And since Christians believe that the Bible is the word of god, whole and perfect, then we can't say it was an oversight either. Want more pro-choice verses? Just ask, I got 'em. Want to counteract this argument with some verses? Please do! Chances are they're being misinterpreted due to lack of historical context. God does not talk about abortion in the Bible. And God knows all, so God knew it would become even more prevalent with the invention of modern medicine. God really should have spoken up in the Bible about it if He wished to outlaw it. But God is perfect, so it's obvious that He deliberately did not talk about it. I can only assume it's because it wasn't a big enough issue to mention. Yet RELIGION has made it it's number 1 issue. A bit ass backwards, no? Jesus talked about caring for those poorer than you and loving one another more than anything else in the Bible. This is fact. The 2 subjects most covered by Jesus in the Bible are love and the rich. Show me a denomination that has fought for the homeless more than they have fought against abortion. Just one. Since this question comes up a lot, I thought I'd mention that the list of abortifacients used in Biblical times includes but is not limited to: Brewer's yeast, vitamin C, wild carrot, blue cohosh, black cohosh, slippery elm, pennyroyal, nutmeg, mugwort, papaya, vervain, common rue, ergot, saffron and tansy. The ancient Greek colony of Cyrene at one time had an economy based almost entirely on the production and export of silphium, a powerful abortifacient in the parsley family. Silphium figured so prominently in the wealth of Cyrene that the plant appeared on the obverse and reverse of coins minted there. As Christianity and in particular the institution of the Catholic Church increasingly influenced European society, those who dispensed abortifacient herbs found themselves classified as witches and were often persecuted. Obviously, this was one of the commonplace political tactics of the Catholic church, as there is no Biblical basis for it. Separation of church and state isn't just for the state you know. It prevents corruption of the church too. Medieval Muslim physicians documented detailed and extensive lists of birth control practices, including the use of abortifacients, commenting on their effectiveness and prevalence. The use of abortifacients was acceptable to Islamic jurists provided that the abortion occurs within 120 days, the point when the fetus is considered to become fully human and receive its soul, at least according to Islam. Christianity and Jewish tradition historically doesn't recognize personhood until 30 days after <i>birth</i>. (Yeah I copied and reposted this in 3 places now, so sue me.)

• The anti-government-and-religion-control-over-freedoms groups are clapping and saying thank yous to Tim and his mom. Why?, because the exploitation of his mom's most personal decision by propagandists pulls the pants down on the religious right. If the decision was so heartfelt and personal, why are these people being so exploited? Jeffrey Dahmer's mom thought about terminating her pregnancy too. Why isn't he featured in the ad?

• All of the Pro-Choice groups should be clapping and saying thank-you. Tim's Mom did what they advocate-She made a choice to keep the baby. Isn't it odd that pro-choice really means our choice not yours.

• All of the Pro-Choice groups should be clapping and saying thank-you. Tim's Mom did what they advocate-She made a choice to keep the baby. Isn't it odd that pro-choice really means our choice not yours.

• Way to go Phil Keaggy.

TotalComments: 15