Christian Activist Wants to Sue NFL Because J.Lo and Shakira Put Him in “Danger of Hellfire”

We’re already days out from Sunday’s Super Bowl LIV extravaganza, but the furor over the exciting halftime performance by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez has shown no sign of dying down. And while many were thrilled by the memorable 14-minute performance by the two middle-aged Latina stars, some are still scandalized by a show they felt was “shocking” and overly sexualized.

But for one Christian activist, Dave Daubenmire, the show wasn’t simply offensive to his sense of chaste righteousness—it was also a threat to his ability to pass through the narrow gates of heaven and be blessed with eternal life and salvation.

According to Right Wing Watch, Daubenmire announced on his “Pass the Salt” podcast that he may even go so far as to sue the National Football League (NFL) because the show prevented him “from getting into the kingdom of Heaven.”

Daubenmire complained:

“I think we ought to sue.

Would that halftime show, would that have been rated PG? Were there any warnings that your 12-year-old son—whose hormones are just starting to operate—was there any warning that what he was going to see might cause him to get sexually excited?

Could I go into a courtroom and say, ‘Viewing what you put on that screen put me in danger of hellfire’?

Could the court say, ‘That doesn’t apply here because the right to [produce] porn overrides your right to [not] watch it’? Yeah, well, you didn’t tell me I was gonna watch it! You just brought it into my living room. You didn’t tell me there were gonna be crotch shots! That’s discriminatory against the value I have in my house. You can’t just do that. I wanna sue them for about $867 trillion.”

The halftime performance has inspired both praise and controversy for a range of reasons, with many hailing its rich texture of cultural references incorporating influences spanning the Middle East to Africa, Colombia, and beyond, as well as contemporary choreography such as pole dancing and salsa.

However, the performances have also inspired small but vocal cries of protest, including complaints over the “booty-shaking extravaganza” and resentment among some social media users over the performance including some Spanish-language lyrics.

Detractors also took issue with the subtle political undertones of the performance, which included a proud display of the flag of Puerto Rico—a U.S.-held territory—and a depiction of children inside cages, a possible reference to migrant detention and family separation happening at the U.S. border with Mexico.

By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com