The Christian Coalition of America blasted the elite press for their double standard regarding Michael Sam, who embraced his sexual orientation, and Tim Tebow, who openly embraced his Christian faith.
Michele Combs, of Christian Coalition of America, told CBS St. Louis that “a lot of people wanted to see” Tebow “fail” while many in the elite media are cheering for Sam’s success.
“I just think it’s amazing when someone talks about his religion, especially being a Christian, they are not embraced by the media or the Hollywood elite,” Combs said. “I think it’s just a certain elite group that has a lot of power and gets a lot of media’s attention,” she said. “I think a majority of Americans would like to see someone like Tim Tebow get the same equal treatment (as Sam).”
As CBS St. Louis noted, Peter Roff, a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report, wrote in April 2013 that the secular New York media treated Tebow like a “circus freak” because the liberal sportswriters and the secular crowd have “never forgiven him” for embracing his Christian and pro-life beliefs.
“Tebow, you see, is a Christian – and is fairly open about. He seems to take the Biblical admonition not to hide one’s faith under a bushel rather literally,” Roff wrote. “He’s used eye black to put scriptural citations on his face on game days. He prays in public and talks about God in an utterly respectful, even loving way. He and his mother appeared in a Superbowl Sunday television ad that talked about the virtues of life and directed people to a website where they could learn more about abortion.”
As Breitbart Sports reported, fans blasted the media’s embrace of Sam after they mocked Tebow for embracing his faith. NFL writer Michael Silver had written that teams were blackballing Tebow because of Tebowmania’s distraction.
The Christian Coalition of America told CBS St. Louis that there is a double standard of how Tebow’s religious beliefs were mocked compared to how Sam was received.
“I think that there was so much pressure on (Tebow) and that anytime you zero in on someone they can be open to mistakes,” said Michele Combs, spokeswoman for the Christian Coalition. “I do think that the pressure gets to you. I think that a lot of people wanted to see him fail unfortunately.”
Combs stated that there was a bias toward Christianity.
“I just think it’s amazing when someone talks about his religion, especially being a Christian, they are not embraced by the media or the Hollywood elite,” Combs said, adding that Americans do want to see Tebow get treated fairly.
“I think it’s just a certain elite group that has a lot of power and gets a lot of media’s attention,” she said. “I think a majority of Americans would like to see someone like Tim Tebow get the same equal treatment (as Sam).”