So, I haven't been blogging much lately, as is pretty obvious. Life with a three-year-old doesn't give me a lot of energy or time, plus the news lately has been pretty disheartening (although how about that iPad!)
But instead of writing about the iPad (oh, how I want one) or how I have been upgrading my netbook to Ubuntu, or what I thought of Obama's State of the Union speech tonight, I'm going to talk about a subject I don't normally pay much attention to: the Superbowl. Or in particular, the ads on the Superbowl.
OK, one in particular.
For those who haven't been living under a rock (or trapped with a three-year-old) up-and-coming football star Tim Tebow, winner of the Heisman Trophy, is the star of a pro-life ad by Focus on the Family, the ultra-conservative religious group.
Funded by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, the 30-second ad is expected to recount the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child. She later gave birth to Tim, who won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and helped his Florida team win two BCS championships.
Well, gosh. That story sure has a happy ending! She wanted to have her baby, she got to have her baby, and she survived to tell the tale. Plus, award-winning hotshot college athlete: bonus!
Those who have seen the ad describe it as "uplifting."
That's not how everybody sees it.
"This ad is frankly offensive, " said Erin Matson, the Action Vice President of the National Organization for Women, speaking of the Tebow commercial. "It is hate masquerading as love. It sends a message that abortion is always a mistake."
"Frankly offensive" doesn't even begin to adequately describe it.
CBS is frantically tapdancing to justify this one.
"We have for some time moderated our approach to advocacy submissions after it became apparent that our stance did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms," said spokesman Dana McClintock. "In fact, most media outlets have accepted advocacy ads for some time."
He said CBS "will continue to consider responsibly produced ads from all groups for the few remaining spots in Super Bowl XLIV."
In 2004, CBS was criticized by many liberal organizations for rejecting an ad by the United Church of Christ highlighting the UCC's welcoming stance toward gays and others who might feel shunned by more conservative churches.
Gee, it might have been nice if they had been concerned about money sentiment and norms a few years earlier?
So we've talked about the circumstances. What about the ad itself? Like I said, nice story with a happy ending. It's nice when a woman who really didn't want to have an abortion is able to avoid having one. Everybody loves hearing about medical miracles. Any parent who has worried about how their kid is going to turn out, especially if there were medical challenges during the pregnancy or in early life, might well take comfort in hearing a story like this. I can see how the Focus on the Family folks would have thought this would be a good "wedge" story to use to get their message across.
But what's the message, really? Ignore your doctors? Imperil your health? Take a chance and just hope and pray it will turn out OK?
Focus on the Family ignores the fact that in poll after poll, however ambivalent Americans feel about abortion, they generally agree on at least one thing: if there's any time when abortion is justified, it's when the mother's health or life is in danger.
"I asked God for a preacher, and he gave me a quarterback," Tebow's father is quoted as saying. But many parents have prayed just as hard over their pregnancies or their children, and bad things still happen. What's the message for them? They just didn't try hard enough?
