14 DAY TRIAL // As the Tiger Woods scandal, which broke in November last year after he smashed his car into a fire hydrant and then a tree, presumably still dazed from the hits he had received from his angry wife, shows the first signs of dying down, the number of people offering him free advice is on the rise. Among them is also former Fox anchor Brit Hume who, in a recent interview, said only Christianity can offer Woods the forgiveness he must be looking for, as SodaHead also points out.
The sin Woods is guilty of is, as everybody must know by now, that of adultery. So far, the media has counted no less than 14 alleged mistresses, with whom Woods liked to keep himself entertained while on the road on golf tournaments and while his wife, Elin Nordegren and their two children, were at home waiting for him. Clearly, salvation in the eyes of the public and with the powers that can only be achieved by Woods turning to Christianity, Hume says.
“Fox News celebrities are now encouraging celebrity athletes to convert to Christianity. Former Fox anchor Brit Hume’s advice to Tiger Woods was that only by forsaking Buddhism, his current religion, and accepting Jesus Christ as his savior can he fully recover as a healthy human being because non-Christian faiths don’t offer as much forgiveness. Never mind that Buddhism offers some things to a man in crisis that Christianity doesn’t, that being forgiven is hardly going to end Mr. Woods’ earthly troubles, and that it’s weird to see a cable news host proselytizing so directly,” SodaHead writes of Hume’s advice.
Moreover, the fact that the former anchor just tosses the suggestion around makes it sound as if choosing one’s religion was nothing more than dependant on one’s current situation which, as it’s known, can change depending on one’s circumstances. The argument also fails to take into account the most important aspect of them all, namely that Woods has to want to convert from Buddhism to Christianity and, secondly, to have the faith required for such an act.
“What strikes me most about Mr. Hume’s remark, after reflecting upon it, is how it cheapens religion, casting matters as though choosing one’s faith isn’t about what’s true or what one believes so much as which religious dictates seem most finely tuned to one’s practical psychological needs at a given moment. […] Religious faith has certainly helped a lot of people in times of trouble, but generally it only works if it’s honestly held faith,” the e-zine goes on to say.