I respect parts of Buddhism, too; and I do not doubt that it is possible for Tiger to “feel” redeemed by his Buddhism. But the real question in pursuing a philosophy of redemption is not whether it makes you feel the way you want to feel, but whether it is based on TRUE TRUTH, and not just a warm fuzzy assurance that “I feel better now,” or, “I am once again at one with the universe,” or some such subjective assurance. No matter how much Buddha and his mother admire Buddhist teachings (many of which may be simliar to Christianity, or even pre-date it), Buddha is still in his grave, while Christ rose from the dead in real time-space history, vindicating his claims to be the exclusive Way, the exclusive Truth, and the exclusive Life—competitors excluded. Buddha himself humbly told those who would follow him to forget him and focus merely on his teachings. That is, remove Buddha himself from his teachings, and you still have a nice, quietistic method for coping with our own anxiety; but you do not have true truth, as in a history book. But in this regard there was nothing “humble” about Jesus. He not only forgave sins against Him, but claimed to forgive the sins of one person against another! And he backed it up by the great Miracle on which all of history pivots, second only to the Creation itself.
Remove Christ from Christianity, and you have nothing, because Christ placed himself at the middle of his teaching in such a way that he had to be a madman if He really is not the God Incarnate He claims to be. It’s too bad that Brit Hume did not put it to his viewers this way on TV when he said what he did. The real question for all of Brit’s viewers is: The question is not which philosopy, religion, or “approach to self-fulfillment” is BEST. The questions is: “Which one is TRUE?”
I gave up my former agnosticism when I found that I prefer True Truth—notwithstanding all its sharp edges and unanswered questions—over merely religious truth. To those whose names are not written in our sovereign God’s Book of Life, such talk as this will always sound like arrogant folly. To the rest, it is the Water of Life.
As Carl Sagan famously said: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof."
Would you mind submitting the photographic evidence, satellite imagery, taperecordings, DNA tests, fingerprints, or at least sworn depositions of reliable, unbiased eye-witnesses to support your claim? You know - the same standard of evidence which you would demand to see before buying swampland in Florida, acknowledging an illegitimate child, or electing an allegedly Hawaii-born President?
Regards,