Brit Hume made the seemingly unpardonable “error” of gently suggesting that Tiger Woods would be better off as a Christian than a Buddhist. In Ireland, that may or may not be a legal crime, but here in America it is at least being made socially unacceptable by postmodern leftists who screech like a goth in the sun if they hear a simple declarative statement that Christianity is superior to other religions.
It’s perplexing that Muslims and other adherents of non-western faiths are not given the same treatment for their belief that their religion is superior to all others. And in spite of the post-modern custom of discounting what you believe (“that’s true for me, but it may not be true for you”), the very act of believing something is itself a declaration that you think it is superior to the other options. That’s what it means to believe; not just religious belief but even whether chocolate is better than vanilla. (An obvious truth that some misguided souls cannot seem to comprehend.) If you believe something, you’ve weighed the facts and evidence and selected what you think is the best choice. That used to be so painfully obvious it could go unstated, but these days it seems to be considered a badge of honor not to actually commit to the beliefs you espouse.
What Hume said which has so offended people is:
“The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith,” Hume said. “He is 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 is, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”
Certainly Christians sin, including sexual sin, but biblical Christianity – which Hume said he is ardently pursuing – provides for forgiveness and redemption while those concepts are not part of Buddhism. Hume believes that Christianity’s forgiveness and redemption is superior to what Buddhism offers; not a suprising, shocking, or even offensive belief for a Christian to hold. The response from the “tolerant left” to Hume’s gentle, respectful suggestion is completely over the top.
The real question here is whether Tiger Woods needs forgiveness and redemption and if so, from whom?
Added: a must-read from The Anchoress, including a good summing up of how to effectively proselytize:
If we lived our creed better, preaching the gospel by the way we live our lives, and by our love, then perhaps those who currently distrust us enough to be satisfied with incuriousness and stereotypes, would not be so quick to jump to the worst conclusions when a fellow like Hume speaks -very gently, it must be said, without stoning or consignment to flames of woe- on the Christian application to the human condition. [...] perhaps the Holy Spirit is using this event as a means to teach us Christians, and the lesson is: Christians would be more credible if they (collectively and individually) lived their own lives in a more Christ-like manner and gave less public scandal.
Comments