Britt Hume’s Message to Tiger
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Question: What’s one thing that Tiger Woods and Barack Obama both have in common?
Answer: In both men the content of their character is not what we were led to believe.
This past Sunday morning on “Fox News Sunday,” Brit Hume had a word of advice for Tiger Woods that’s catching quite a bit of attention. In a round table discussion on the circumstances surrounding the celebrity golfer in the aftermath of his much publicized sex scandal, Hume commented on the tragedy of his situation, the fact that he’s lost his family and that it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to have a relationship with his children.
Hume said:
“The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith. 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. 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.’”
As you can well imagine the Twitter-verse and blogosphere have exploded with comments both for and against. Liberal extremists like Ellis Weiner of the Huffing & Puffington Post and Political Animal Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly have printed reams excoriating Hume for his statements. Last night on Fox News “The O’Reilly Factor” Bill O’Reilly gave Hume an opportunity to further explain his comments and to address his critics. Hume spoke more candidly about his Christian faith as the one being interviewed not bound as much by any kind of journalistic restraint.
Hume said of Tigar Woods:
“He needs something that Christianity especially provides and gives and offers, and that is redemption and forgiveness. I was really meaning to say in those comments yesterday more about Christianity than anything else…I think that Jesus Christ offers Tiger Woods something that Tiger Woods badly needs.”
When asked, “What do you think drives the negative comments about Christianity?” Hume had this to say:
“It has always been a puzzling thing to me. The Bible even speaks of it that you speak the name of Jesus Christ…and I don’t mean to make a pun here, but all Hell breaks loose. And it has always been thus. It is explosive. And I didn’t even say the name in that way. I simply spoke of the Christian faith, but that was enough to trigger this reaction. It triggers a very powerful reaction in people who do not share the faith and who do not believe in it.”
Britt Hume is dead on. There’s a reason Buddhism doesn’t offer the kind of “forgiveness and redemption” that orthodox Christianity provides. The message of the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation.” What Christ offers is real. It’s not dependent on our own goodness, since none of us are good. None of us are worthy. It is completely and totally dependent on God’s grace and the saving power of Jesus Christ. And it’s in that power that we are able to become more than just slaves to our passions and desires. In Him we become truly free. Hats off to Britt Hume for having the courage of his conviction to take a stand for the cause of Christ even when it’s unpopular.
