This letter is in response to a number of articles, editorials and letters to the editors over the last month or so. Although I intend to address issues from the Dove World Outreach Center to the upcoming Tim Tebow Super Bowl advertisement, my message is somewhat cohesive: Stop apologizing for bigotry.
A bigot is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.” There is no exception in this definition for those who arrive at this intolerance through religious means. Why are we shy to call all Dove World Outreach Center representatives bigots? The claim of Tuesday’s editorial, saying that the center suffers from “bad marketing” and is really just espousing fundamentalist Christian principles, is somewhat correct. My objection is that we (and by “we” I mean progressive, secular observers) stop short of stating the obvious. Fundamentalist Christian principles are bigoted. We need not put a protective layer upon our objections simply because they enshrine their bigotry in religion. I anticipate responses to this contention including “this is just what they believe” or “they are just following their religion to its letter.” Fine. Great. Let them follow it. This is indeed a free country. I’m not advocating kicking them off campus. I’m advocating a strong, honest response by those who disagree. Call a spade a spade. Call bigotry bigotry.
Same thing goes for Tim Tebow and his intention to appear in a pro-life Focus on the Family commercial. First of all, I like Tim Tebow. I rooted for Tim Tebow. That doesn’t change the fact that he is putting his name (and subsequently the name of UF) on a message propagated by a bigoted organization. Focus on the Family has a long history of fighting against same-sex rights, including marriage. If you agree with them, that is your right. But you are, by definition, a bigot. It truly doesn’t matter if you arrived at this position through the Bible or by flipping a coin. If you speak out against or vote against the rights of other people, you are a bigot. I, for one, am embarrassed by what Tim Tebow has chosen to do because on the field he was a great representative of the school that I love.
Some will take objection to the gravity of the following analogy, but perhaps an outsized example will wake some people up. One hundred and fifty years ago there were those who endorsed slavery (many for religious reasons), those who spoke passionately against slavery and those who were against it but apologized for it. If you are passionate about progress, human rights, civil rights and freedom, then please speak that way.
