The Tribe's Reaction to Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow isn't speaking for God; he is speaking to his God, as is his right in freedom.

It isn't at all clear that Tim Tebow believes God cares about who wins a football game.

If I understand the concept of God, then who speaks for God? The practical answer to that is, any one of us with a long weekend to kill, which happens with alarming frequency in the world.

If it offends, then look away. Isn't that -one- of the essential aspects of peer based freedom in America when we share the commons? Because we share this existence in our free political context as peers, not emperor wannabees.

Tim Tebow makes no demand upon any of us by his mere existence and joy and celebration and thankfullness.

What is most revealing about the Tim Tebow 'controversy' is the source of the hairshirt that he represents to some of the tribe-- as if his existence and choices were an affront to others.

I am not a Christian. I am a devout non-aligned agnostic, grateful to a largely benevolent universe for my time and mote of heat and light and opportunities given to me here in this wondrous playground. But I love freedom, and recognize that one of the keystones of cherishing that freedom is respecting his.

One of the most important ways we defend freedom in America is to respect the freedom of others. Christians. Gays. Businessmen. Athletes. Artists. Vegetarians. Meat eaters. Atheists.

Even the odd agnostic.

Freedom ultimately means, freedom from each other except by free association, tempered by recognition that the mere existence of each other in the public square is not the same as forced association. Freedom demands tolerance and forbearance(failure to enforce, as in, uniformity of thought or opinion or association)or else, there is no freedom. Our FF gave us the tools for free association; especially the 1st Amendment. It is an under-appreciated aspect of the 1st it is ultimately a tool for free association, and a tool which operates in two directions: when we freely speak, we are also freely heard. When we freely speak, we are freely identified as friend or fool. When we freely practice our religion, ditto. And here is the key element to freedom: no matter how each of us freely defines friend; no matter how each of us freely defines fool. The goal being, a peaceful tool of free association.

The 1st Amendment is 1st for a reason. Free association is the keystone of freedom, and the 1st amendment is its most powerful tool; it operates in two directions. Our FF were brilliant for realizing this.

Freedom is not the freedom to sprint headlong across the public square, oblivious to the existence of others. Freedom is the freedom to navigate the public square, arriving at our separate destinations, mindful of the existence of others. The 1st Amendment is an illuminating navigation aid which permits us all to peacefully navigate. Tim Tebow practicing his freedom is not a compunction to steer either towards or away from Tim Tebow, the choice is yours and mine, and our systematic encouragement to freely express our thought and religion is the necessary illumination required for all of us to peacefully choose..

Freedom is also an impediment to the totalitarian wishes of existentially terrified children, some driven by their overwhelming fealty to their atavistic herd mentality genes. AKA, America's once external and today largely internal political struggle.

There, I used the most used and least defined word in all of politics: "Politics."

Politics: the art and science of getting what we want from others using any means short of actual violence. mega-politics: the superset that includes violence.

What some want is "to be left alone." What others want is "to ride others like a tribal property pony as a birthright, modulated only by ability to be ridden." Those are both political and are also mutually exclusive.