Brit Hume's Buddhist Problem

Here's what Brit said on Fox News Sunday...



"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. Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.

A Buddhist blogger named Barbara O'Brien (!) responded with this...

"I don't like to point out other's faults, but given the record, I would think Christians would show a little more humility about offering advice to the sexually wayward."

Given the record of Christians being sexually wayward? Yeah, because Brit's point was that Tiger would not have cheated on his wife and seven other skanks if he were pretending to be a Christian instead of pretending to be a Buddhist. Do American Buddhists even consider what Tiger did to be a sin? Do they even have a concept of sin? You see, a person can't be redeemed or forgiven if their belief system doesn't include the concept of sin. That's why Kyle Lovett's following comment makes no sense...

"Could Hume get away with saying something like this about Jewish people or black people or the Muslim Faith?"

Ignoring the part about black people (really, Kyle?), of course Hume wouldn't say the same thing about those religions because they do believe in the concept of sin. Hume didn't advise Tiger to turn to Judaism or Islam because Hume is a Christian, and a fairly newly minted one at that. He's only gotten serious about his faith recently. and one can only hope he doesn't lose the kind of bold faith he has right now. I think it's terrific.

So many Americans like to think themselves tolerant to the point where they hold all religions in equal esteem. They are so focused on the issue of tolerance that they can't even see the logic behind picking a faith. When you pick one over the others, no amount of lip service to them makes up for the fact that when you do choose to follow one faith exclusively, you are by definition disparaging the others.

As a Christian, I'm not okay with other people choosing not to follow my faith. I'm not going to congratulate them on finding just any path to follow. But that's okay. I'm not going to punch anyone in the face on account of it, and I'd expect that same level of tolerance for myself. My Muslim and Jewish friends should be worried about me and want me to convert to their faiths. And as long as they are willing to discuss it in a civilized manor, I'm happy to let them try to convert me.

If Buddhists have a problem with Brit Hume's remarks, let them explain it in more profound ways than pointing out that Christians can be hypocrites or that he's not treating Buddhism like every other religion.

You'd think as Buddhists they could come up with something a bit more pithy. Something that could be wrapped inside a fortune cookie.

My Mind is Clean