Social Question

ETpro's avatar

Does Tibowing actually cause God to intervene in football game outcomes?

Asked by ETpro (34605points) February 3rd, 2013

Since it’s Super Bowl Sunday, this seems a timely question. And we might note that Tibowing didn’t get the Jets anywhere close to the championship.

Still, more and more college and professional players now are bowing down on the field to pray that they win and therefore get a bigger salary and/or bonus, more glory for themselves, and perhaps a place in the Hall of Fame. Who believes God actually bends the laws of physics or confers superhuman prowess on a player and/or team in answer to prayer?

Consider this bible verse. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:5–6. Given that, are players like Tim Tibow showing that they understand the faith they so openly demonstrate?

Do you think this prayer is more or less likely to get God to bend the laws of physics?

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52 Answers

syz's avatar

<snort>

marinelife's avatar

No. Nothing does.

jonsblond's avatar

No, but I don’t think Tebowing is hurting anyone. Is it? Let them pray if they want. I don’t care. I know that the outcome of a game depends on whether or not I wear a particular jersey. It has nothing to do with God. ;)

akl561's avatar

The purpose of such displays is for players with massive egos to appear humble.

ragingloli's avatar

Well, if it did, it would just further reinforce the evilness of the abrahamic god.
related picture

mattbrowne's avatar

Of course not.

But the fans of the losing team can always contemplate the multiverse, so there are plenty of universes for their team to win. So everybody wins.

RealEyesRealizeRealLies's avatar

The outcome depends on who God put his money on.

Aster's avatar

It’s egotistical and naive to think God cares who wins. The good thing about it is they also think God is watching their behavior. That might help keep them in line. I hope.

Jaxk's avatar

I’m not particularly religious but it seems to me that if he prays after he scores, he’s not praying for God to intervene. Rather he’s thanking God for the strength and skill he already has. Understanding why he does this is not quite as much fun as trying to ridicule him for it. Just because you don’t understand something shouldn’t be an excuse to denigrate it. Not quite as flashy as some of the End-Zone dances we see. Maybe we should encourage more of that.

Dutchess_III's avatar

We should just leave them alone (as long as they don’t come to my front door.) I think it’s kind of cool, actually.

ucme's avatar

Well, in the 86 football world cup in Mexico, Diego Maradona (spits on floor) scored a goal against england with his hand, which he then had the audacity to claim was the “hand of god”, so god is a cheating little bastard then is he?
Great player, but what a fucking shit!

Patton's avatar

No, but making a show out of one’s faith sure does sell tickets to the ignorant!

Dutchess_III's avatar

I still think we should leave them alone. Give them the respect we feel we deserve too.

ragingloli's avatar

@Dutchess_III
As soon as furries can walk outside in the open with their fursuits on without being looked down upon.

Dutchess_III's avatar

If you expect to have respect from others, but don’t give other people respect, even if you believe different things than they do, then that makes you a hypocrite.

But, if you don’t feel you deserve respect, Raggy, then disregard my post.

filmfann's avatar

Okay, so we are criticizing someone for being a good influence. I am glad he is giving thanks to the Lord, and not bragging about how tough he is and how he will kick everyone’s ass.
Does God intervene? Early in the Bible, the Lord directs the army of His people to war. During one battle, one guy stole some of the enemies treasure, which God said not to do. The result was that during the next battle, which they should have won easily, they got creamed.
Don’t count on the Lords backing just because you are faithful.

Patton's avatar

@filmfann I don’t see how being showy about his faith is being a good influence. I think @akl561 nailed this one.

Pachy's avatar

Winning the Super Bowl has nothing to do with the supernatural. If a player chooses to pray as a means of focusing his mind on playing the very best game he is capable of, i’m all for it. If, however, he believes praying will cause God (or any supernatural being) to intervene in the game and allowi his team to beat the other team, you’ve lost me.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Did the L-foot just fart?? That’s sacrilegious, man!

WillWorkForChocolate's avatar

Who gives a shit if sports figures take a knee? The more important question would be: does constantly mocking the religious make the mockers look like anything other than arrogant assholes? If you answer yes, you fail.

Michael_Huntington's avatar

As a offensive, I find this religious person.

dabbler's avatar

I can’t think of anything in most religions that mandates public display of the thanking and the praying.
There’s a big difference between objecting to someone praying, and objecting to drawing a lot of attention to yourself praying.
As far as I’m concerned one’s relationship with God is personal.

bkcunningham's avatar

I am so praying that the Ravens hold this lead and kick SF’s ass. DId anyone see the beautiful opening ceremony? I got chocked up. From Jennifer Hudson to Alicia Keys, really beautiful. The children’s choir really puts things in perspective.

josie's avatar

Probably not. But then again, I think it is more about publicity than it is about attracting favor from God. But I do not know Tim Tibow, so I suppose it is not fair or proper to me speak about his motives. Just sayin…

bkcunningham's avatar

God answered my prayers! Thank God the Ravens won!!

jonsblond's avatar

God pissed in my Cheerios. The Ravens won. boo!!

:D

Paradox25's avatar

I never understood the appeal of praying in public. Just like those who have to make out in public, sports figures praying in public are doing nothing more than gloating to me. Not impressive.

rojo's avatar

Personally, I have not been able to find a reliable way to determine which team god actually favors. I have tried; mainly because I figured it would help me to decide which team to bet against but no such luck.

rojo's avatar

Did the ravens pay off the refs or did god blind them momentarily so they did not call that blatant pass interference call on the last play of the SF drive at the end? How can we know?

rooeytoo's avatar

I find it a lot less offensive than those weird, lewd, egomaniacal dances some of them do.

ETpro's avatar

@syz Finally, an answer I can understand.

@Michael_Huntington Carling on the ball, all right. Look at where Tebow ended up in the quest for Super Bowl gold this year. And for that matter, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has tattoos all over him giving all the glory to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I do think he’s gong to be a really terrific quarterback after he learns the game better, and plain old Joe Falco gave him a lesson or two tonight.

@marinelife Agreed.

@jonsblond The point of the quoted scripture, Matthew 6:5–6 is that public displays of piety trivialize what piety is really about. I’m an atheist, so if the prevailing view is to trivialize mythical sky daddies, I am cool with that. But of I were a real sky daddy, I could easily see what’s wrong with such public displays. Wonder of wonders, according to Matthew, Jesus and I see eye to eye on that.

@akl561 Can I get an amen? That’s exactly what the Bible itself claims.

@ragingloli That’s an incredibly powerful image. It’s so incredibly sad that so many “Christians” are focused only on the first two frames. I would be much more abiding of them if frame 3 was tantamount in their minds. Instead, we have a number of them here ready to pillory me as a hypocrite because I don’t support frame 1 and 2, but do care about frame 3, which they abhor and denigrate.

@mattbrowne Ah yes, Quantum mechanism comes to the rescue if those who do not believe in science.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies I didn’t even RealEyse you were still here. Good to see you. If you have knowledge of how God actually sets the odds, please share. Of course, bear in mind that a failure to perform to expectation will bring critical eyeballs into your gambling, something that will not necessity boost your betting revenues.

Supacase's avatar

Perhaps he is praying for peace and calm, the ability to concentrate and do his best. I see no reason he should hide it.

ETpro's avatar

@Supacase Yeah, I guess Jesus just didn’t get it. He probably should have checked with you firs.

Supacase's avatar

@ETpro Havent you heard? Sometimes God says “no.”

I’m more or less ambivalent about religion, but I see no need for the snide comments about the faith and beliefs of others. So what if he wants to pray?

ETpro's avatar

@Supacase & @rooeytoo Interesting. Here I am an atheist getting pilloried by Christians for the high crime of telling you want Jesus said. Apparently relating what the leader of the faith said is being snide.

rooeytoo's avatar

@ETpro – it sure sounded smartass. And that comment hardly constituted a pillory by any standard!

rojo's avatar

@ETpro Pilloried!!! Why, you should be crucified! What an affront.

rojo's avatar

BTW, @ETpro, do you know why Jesus can’t eat M&M’s?

Because they keep falling through the holes in his hands!
its a joke guys, a joke

ETpro's avatar

@rooeytoo Still not dealing with substance, just criticizing my style. Can you refute the substance, or are you offended because you can’t? BTW, I’m not here to kiss ass. That’s a fine pursuit, but one best kept outside virtual venues.

@rojo Ha! Thanks for lightening things up, as if being crucified was a lightweight punishment.

rooeytoo's avatar

@ETpro – you are obviously an intelligent man, it simply surprises me that you stoop to snideness and smart ass. I’m not religious myself so really not offended, I think all religion is absurd, I just try not resort to personally insulting those who possess a faith that I don’t. I don’t consider that kissing ass, merely practicing the golden rule. Now I know I don’t always succeed but I do try.

Supacase's avatar

@ETpro your comment was snide. How else can suggesting God check with me before making decisions be taken? And, btw, you didn’t commit the “high crime” of telling us what he said; You either said he didn’t understand or that he didn’t receive the message.

I’m also a bit confused about you being pilloried by Christians considering neither @rooeytoo nor I are particularly religious.

ETpro's avatar

@rooeytoo & @Supacase I’m not actually sure what comment you felt was snide. What I was attempting to point out is that Jesus spoke directly against public displays of prayer, so those who claim to serve him but do that are working directly against the commandments of the God they claim to serve.

dabbler's avatar

I think this was the snide one, “Jesus just didn’t get it. He probably should have checked with you first.”
But I think @ETpro‘s first and stronger point is that Jesus teaches humility, and had no patience for public displays. That’s a completely valid point.
There’s no reason the fellow shouldn’t pray, for peace or focus or more points. But to show all the rest of us, at a moment when ALL eyes are upon him, is pride. He can pray when he gets to the sidelines, why not?

ETpro's avatar

@dabbler Thanks for clearing that up. Yes, that was a poor way to frame my point. I’ll fall back on the “apology” so in vogue in politics these days. If my choice of words in any way offended anyone, that was not my intention and I am sorry you were offended. :-)

rooeytoo's avatar

Are you running for office???

ETpro's avatar

@rooeytoo I ran unopposed for Dog Catcher in Everett and got beat by a write-in candidate.

And for thos that found me so abrasive toward believers, I’ll let Jim Jefferies say it more eloquently.

rooeytoo's avatar

I didn’t bother watching, the title was enough for me.

ETpro's avatar

@rooeytoo He isn’t kidding. They guy is funny, but he aims to offend almost everyone equally.

Dutchess_III's avatar

No reason to offend anyone, much less everyone. Unless they deserve it. Like Bohner.

Supacase's avatar

I don’t find it prideful. It is refreshing to see someone comfortable with expressing their beliefs regardless of who may be watching.

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