Equal Tolerance

I am indebted to Daniel E. for pointing me to Sally Jenkins' article in the Washington Post about the Tim Tebow Super Bowl commercial.  You can see this article here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102067.html.  Like many others, I'd heard the ad was coming and was likely to produce some controversy because of its Pro-Life stand.  Sadly, I missed the content while hanging out with the Braxton's in their hospital room.  But it can already be viewed on http://www.focusonthefamily.org/.

The article about this ad particularly struck me.  In it, a staunchly pro-choice columnist blasts those who oppose airing the 30 second spot.  Although the author doesn't agree at all with the Tebow's point of view, she defends their right to air it, and offers scathing rebuke to those with whom she would agree on the issues.

This is the kind of responsible journalism we need more of on both sides of controversial issues.  We need more people who can see beyond the emotional bluster so they can think clearly about what they are saying.  Hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers have died for the right to freedom of expression, protest, and the press.  We mock their sacrifice when we try to strip that freedom in the interest of guarding a sacred ideology.

I understand full well that this opinion may well mean having to open the door at times to ideas I don't personally agree with.  CBS refused to air an ad for a homosexual dating service during the Super Bowl.  We are going to have to wrestle culturally with how to apply these criteria more objectively so we don't just arbitrarily choose to give air time to things we agree with.  And on the other side, there are issues of decency and what it means for a show to be family-friendly that we also have to honor.

What I do know after watching the Tebow ad is that while it is allegedly "pro-life," its message is so subtle as to make it nearly impossible to argue with.  Apparently that's not enough for some, who will oppose something simply because they've made up their minds ahead of time.  Let that not be me.