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“Born in the Philippines to missionary parents,” The Heritage Foundation’s Jennifer Marshall reports in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, “he not only is outspoken about his faith, referencing it frequently in word and symbol – such as biblical citations in his eye black. He’s also as intense about living out his faith as he is about playing football — and winning.”
Marshall, who directs Heritage’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, explains that Tebow’s public expressions of belief are consistent with America’s first principles:
Even for observers who consider the eye-black evangelism corny or juvenile, it’s simply no comparison to the “youthful indiscretions” that haunt so many public figures for years. And even through jaded eyes, the trademark Tebow kneel to give gratitude to God after a great play hardly can be as obnoxious as others’ on-field (not to mention off-field) antics and outbursts. . .
Public expression of religious belief is an essential aspect of what has been called America’s first freedom. This nation is founded on the principle that religious individuals and institutions would have the freedom to live out their faith. But in recent decades, policy and social pressures have suggested that faith should be pushed into a private sphere.
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