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Brit Hume To Tiger Woods: Ditch Buddha For Jesus Christ

by Tommy Christopher | 2:09 pm, January 3rd, 2010

» 25 comments

On Fox News Sunday this morning, anchor Brit Hume dispensed some advice to embattled golfer Tiger Woods that’s sure to touch off a firestorm of controversy, suggesting that Woods would be better off forsaking Buddhism for the more “redemptive” and “forgiving” Christianity. Was Hume out of line, or was he just being a good friend to Tiger?

Jayne from Firefly agrees with him!

Here’s the clip, which is already the hottest thing on Twitter:

Transcript: (emphasis mine)

Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person, I think is a very open question, and it’s a tragic situation with him. He’s lost his family, it’s not clear to me whether he’ll be able to have a relationship with his children, but the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal, the extgent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He’s said to be a Buddhist, I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith, so my message to Tiger would be “Tiger, turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.

Good for Hume, I say. I’ve been wanting to tell Tiger to try agnosticism, but I just wasn’t sure.

I was going to suggest nihilism, but I didn’t really believe it.

On its face, Hume’s remarks do seem to suggest that Christianity is superior to Buddhism, and the idea that someone should abandon their own faith for yours does reek of arrogance. Those who are offended by Hume’s remarks aren’t out in left field somewhere. As I asked Adam Baldwin, whose Twitter feed first alerted me to the clip, “Would you applaud if someone advised John Ensign or Mark Sanford to ditch Christianity?”

I don’t know Baldwin well enough to know how he would respond, but I’d lay good money that even casual Christians would be offended by such a proposition. It’s one thing to extoll the virtues of your own faith, but quite another to denigrate someone else’s.

If you look at the context of Hume’s remarks, it seems that he views religion as a menu comparison. Sure, Buddhism’s great for achieving inner peace, but Christianity’s got that redemption thing to fall back on. Hume’s advice doesn’t hinge on the relative truth of either religion, but rather the services it can offer a horndog golfer.

What I find comical about Hume’s entreaty is the notion that Buddhism is the problem, and not Tiger’s flawed humanity. If Tiger had been practicing Buddhism, he wouldn’t have wanted all that sex in the first place.

adam baldwin, Brit Hume, buddhism, firefly, fox news, jayne cobb, Tiger Woods, Tommy Christopher

http://www.uselessbeauty.com Vidiot

Good thing that no Christians have ever cheated on their spouses, and Buddhists always do. (Ask the guys at the C Street House about that one.)

But you’re right, Tommy, and it’s hysterical; don’t Buddhists advocate the abolition of desire?
CaptainAmerica

On its face, Hume’s remarks do seem to suggest that Christianity is superior to Buddhism>

Considering Buddhism is a false religion and just a trick of Satan, its very easy to say that Christianity is superior to Buddhism. Anything else are just false religions.

“Would you applaud if someone advised John Ensign or Mark Sanford to ditch Christianity?”>

No, but someone should tell them they need to get right with God because they had obviously strayed in their walk.
timzank

I don’t know (or care) if he leans towards Bhuddism or Christianity. What I do know is, he’s been worshipping pretty religiously at the Church Of Tiger Woods and while it worked for a while, he’s probably over-due to replace his love of self for love of God (whichever one he chooses).
http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Harper/1523747111 David Harper

CaptainAmerica says:
January 3, 2010 at 3:02 pm

“Considering Buddhism is a false religion and just a trick of Satan, its very easy to say that Christianity is superior to Buddhism. Anything else are just false religions.”

Are you serious? If you are, you are as dumb as a post…
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Adkins/1585417987 Bill Adkins

Perhaps we should all get naked and paint ourselves blue and dance under a full moon. About as good as any religion and you might get lucky with another naked blue painted dancer.
blueblogger

Great comment Bill and as usual right on target. I have yet to see “any” religion work!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Steele/1147844375 Chuck Steele

This gives the Christian haters something to rail about. Brit forgot the edict that only non-Christians, including Buddhist, mooseslims, atheist’s, agnostics, Jews, Church of Global Warming and treehuggerists are allowed to have and express their religious opines.
It will be fun to watch.
Ted

Hey Chuck, what exactly is a mooseslim? Dumb ass.
m

>No, but someone should tell them they need to get right with God because they had obviously strayed in their walk.

Get out of this country. Now. Take your theocratic paternalistic attitude with you.
Check It

Tommy, I think your advice is fine if you are having a private conversation witih Hume over the issue, or with Tiger, or Hume and Tiger, or other people about it.

I don’t think it has any applicability to the real issue here, however. At all. It’s not really a trivial one either:
http://donkasaurus.blogspot.com/2010/01/foxs-religious-preachers-and-converters.html
What Hume did is really extraordinarily inappropriate, for starters.
SuperSmart

Brit Hume post-pseudo-retirement is infinitely more interesting! What an absolute nutter this one is.

My self-delusional-fairytale-for-everlasting-life is better than your self-delusional-fairytale-for-everlasting-life. You religious people sure are a hoot.

God help us all.
m

Ugh, Brit Hume is a horrible disgusting human being for saying this. It makes me want to vomit on so many levels.
same2u

CaptainAmerican,

Isn’t it about time that Fox News added a biblical-based news show to their lineup on the weekends? Maybe something along the lines of the 700 club.
felixw

You anti-Christian bigots are reprehensible. You can deride Christianity all you want, but the teachings of the religion are clear: it is not right to cheat on your spouse. The fact that some Christians fall short doesn’t change the teaching or its value.

On the other hand, the Leftist anti-religion bigots are smug because they know that they can’t be criticized, since they have no spiritual values they need to follow. But, honestly, they should think through the implications of that, especially as it relates to the credibility of their commentary on moral issues.
rmbltmbl

Bill Adkins says:
January 3, 2010 at 4:09 pm

blueblogger blueblogger says:
January 3, 2010 at 4:48 pm

Awww, surely there is a religion that works pretty well for you? Oh.. they didn’t tell you liberal progressivism was a religion?
ImNotBlue

Bill Adkins says:
January 3, 2010 at 4:09 pm

Yes, we’ve all seen Avatar… take off the glasses already.

m says:
January 3, 2010 at 8:58 pm

Get out of this country. Now. Take your theocratic paternalistic attitude with you.

Isn’t the country built on religious tolerance? Isn’t what you’re saying, blatantly un-American?

Furthermore, isn’t your statement similar to Hume’s? You’re saying that because Cap (allegedly) has strong faith, and believes in God… that he shouldn’t be allowed in the country. Therefore, one can extrapolate, that you believe only people of a certain faith, or people who practice a certain way, are “acceptable” or “doing the right thing,” and all others should be punished. That’s far worse than what Hume said… isn’t it?
SWWT

Man, people need to calm down. If Brit Hume wants to promote his religious faith he should be allowed to right? Free speech, right?

Oh wait.
Cecelia

Oh, my goodness! Someone had an opinion on Christianity that they prefaced on their view of its actual tenets, rather merely bad-mouthing conservative adherents of the faith?!

Get the tar and feathers…
TFitz

Well, I’m guessing neither Brit or Tiger are big religious thinkers. It sounds more like advice from a PR consultant and I must admit that this could be the best course for Tiger to take. Modern Christianity has turned liabilities into assets by this ‘prodigal son’ effect. Geo Bush turned his cokin’ and drinkin’ and slutty ways into something like 30,000,000 evangelical votes and the presidency.
The Real Royal King

Cecelia says:
January 4, 2010 at 1:08 pm

Oh, my goodness! Someone had an opinion on Christianity that they prefaced on their view of its actual tenets, rather merely bad-mouthing conservative adherents of the faith?!

Get the tar and feathers…

—

Well, this was just silly, and it shows what a tool Hume is and has always been. Cafeteria Christianity is an interesting but flawed concept.
Nachi

Yup. Just look at what it did for Brit. And his family!! Why stop with Christianity?? Why not include Paganism, Witchcraftery, Wicca – etc. Tiger could even become an NRA/NASCAR Fundamentalist Repug! Using religion like a drunk uses a lamppost. Then, when Tiger sees a “stranger,” he’ll be trained to – leap back – as tho you stabbed him with a homosexual cattle prod. Then he can fall into a swoon about how neat it is that angels are out and about – and can actually fly!! You go, Brit!!
m

>Isn’t the country built on religious tolerance?

Religious freedom. We practice what we want without anyone sticking their finger up your own butt. Tiger Woods deserves NOTHING to be told that he “ought” to convert to Christianity. This is completely archaic and absolutely disgusting in a 21st century America that we’ve got people on TV telling him that he should switch religions. Ancient dogmatic thinking and unamerican to the highest degree. Brit Hume is American in-name-only.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Peter-Fox/100000074547921 Peter Fox

I love it! Brit has guts! He must have known what the response would be, yet he said it anyway! I agree with some of what Mr. Hume said, just perhaps not the way he said it. There’s no need to offend people, though I do not think that was his intent. He simply wasn’t trying to qualify what he said, and for that I like him. Too often today people try to be politically correct — it often (but not always) means you sacrifice your personal beliefs. I think he might better have said simply that Tiger needs Christ now, and for that I am thankful someone in the media seems to really care about him. I still support Tiger; he can overcome this, but only by turning to God, which means accepting Christ, who is the only way to God. Yes, I’m dogmatic about this. And I have a right to be, as an American, though that’s not my reason for writing. In this day and age, all religions are viewed as equal. They’re not. They are simply not. The others do not work. Oh, the others may provide some semblance of peace, but not the real thing, and they simply do not provide for salvation…yes, life after death, which can only be had by accepting Christ’s sacrifice for your soul…no good deeds, no work in fact will save a person’s soul. We’re too far removed from God. I believe in Santa Claus? Maybe. All I know is it works for me, and it would work for Tiger. I really hope he’ll take Brit’s advice.
Bhikkhu aggacitto

Hi Everyone!

This is really typical. Somebody feels the need to shoot their mouth off about Buddhism, while its painfully obvious to many of us that this man simply has no clue as to what he’s talking about. It would be nice if more people actually gave an effort to study and honestly be willing to learn more about the religious faith of someone else before making such comments. Unfortunately the arrogance of ignorance usually does prevail. Call it ‘guts’ if you want. Most people that I have met who choose to criticize the Buddhist religion have of course never actually given it much study. They just know that their religion is the ‘true’ religion and why don’t YOU get it?
A lot of this sort of ignorance just takes compassion.

Check out these web sites for good information of the Buddha’s teaching (dhamma).

accesstoinsight.org
dhammaprotector.blogspot.com

Have a blessed day!

Bhikkhu aggacitto

Bhikkhu aggacitto
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