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"I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught."
Without having to mention any names, Woods' beautiful description of his mother's Buddhism is an apt rebuttal to Britt Hume's absurd and arrogant bluster recently,assertingthat a conversion by Woods to Christianity would magically make this all go away:
"The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith," said Hume. "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of redemption and forgiveness offered by the Christian faith. 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."
Hume received a lot ofcriticismat the time, for using his position as a pundit to proselytize. His defense on Bill O'Reilly's show was even more disturbing, attributing criticism to some sort of persecution of Christians. Jon Stewart'sThe Daily Showmademince meat of that claim, remarking on the difficulty of being a Christian, as compared to, say, being a Muslim.
What struck me about Hume's bigoted comment, was how simple-minded and shallow it was. It was pretty clear from his brief mention of his knowledge of Buddhism, that he hadn't actually researched his claim that it doesn't provide a path to forgiveness. Aside from the inappropriateness of the venue, it seemed to rely on self-centered view of the world, worthy of an infant: if it works for me, it must be the only path for all.
Ironically, Hume seemed oblivious to the fact that his fellow Fox News contributor - William Kristol (not himself a Christian) - sitting right in front of him when he blurted out his chauvinistic statement. More important, he was oblivious of the consequences of such bigotry. It's one thing to profess your own faith and the comfort it may give you in hard times. It's quite another to proclaim the superiority of your religion compared to another's religion.
Today, Tiger Woods made it clear that Hume doesn't know what he's talking about, when it comes to Buddhism and redemption.
