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Brit Hume, Tiger Woods and Buddha -- Weekly Column
BillOReilly.com ^ | January 7, 2010 | Bill O'Reilly

Posted on 01/07/2010 8:41:44 PM PST by Salvation

Brit Hume, Tiger Woods and Buddha
 
By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com
 
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My colleague Brit Hume has aroused the ire of some secularists as well as some Buddhists by advising Tiger Woods to seek redemption through Christianity in place of his mother's religion of Buddhism. Said Mr. Hume about Mr. Woods, "He's 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 would be, 'Tiger, turn your faith—turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"

Almost immediately, the far left began mocking Hume as a religious fanatic. Some of the comments directed at him were as hateful as anything directed towards Tiger Woods.

So, let's look at what happened. According to the Buddhist journalist Barbara Hoetsu O'Brien, Hume is correct about Buddhism. That faith does not offer forgiveness and redemption the way Christianity does. That's because Buddhism has no concept of sin.

On my TV program, I asked Brit if he was proselytizing, as he is a devout Christian. He said no, and put forth he was just giving Mr. Woods some advice he might consider. Thus, the question becomes, what it is Brit Hume's sin? Why are people like Washington Post critic Tom Shales and TV's Jon Stewart going after him?

The answer, I believe, lies in the explosive nature of right and wrong, good and evil—also, the unease some Americans feel when a religious conviction they don't hold is displayed before them.

A woman named Nancy Spagnolo who lives in Bethany, Connecticut e-mailed me shortly after I interviewed Hume. "Religion is such a deeply personal issue and it is wrong to discuss what another person should believe. Mr. Hume should have contacted Tiger Woods privately instead of taking it public."

That's not a bad point. I'm sure Brit Hume had noble intentions when he addressed the golfer publicly, but it was a deeply personal assessment of Woods' predicament. We are all sinners. How many of us want to be told how to achieve forgiveness in a public forum?

That being said, Brit Hume has a perfect right to espouse what he believes is a healing tonic. The forgiveness Christianity offers has helped millions of human beings throughout history. The world would be a better place if every person on earth understood the basic philosophy of Jesus. Mr. Hume was simply exercising his free speech rights and the fact he is paid well to do that speaks to his intellect and insight.

Anti-religious sentiment is currently chic in America. You can see it displayed in the media almost everyday. Brit Hume sent some advice to Tiger Woods. He did so meaning well. Mr. Woods is free to take it or leave it. There was no harm in this.
##


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: brithume; budhism; christianity; foxnews; oreilly; tigerwoods
A number of comments at the Source
1 posted on 01/07/2010 8:41:45 PM PST by Salvation
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To: Salvation

I rarely watch Bill O’Reilly anymore. Did anyone see this interview?

Comments on O’Reilly’s column?


2 posted on 01/07/2010 8:43:59 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
O’Reiley always plays it safe. He always refers to Christianity and Jesus’ teaching as a philosophy. It is more than that. He however can not quite come out with the TRUTH. Maybe he has great doubts or maybe he is afraid. It just bugs me. It is too trivial.
3 posted on 01/07/2010 8:50:30 PM PST by therut
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To: Salvation
I believe this has both the segment from Fox News Sunday and the O'Reilly expansion.
4 posted on 01/07/2010 8:50:48 PM PST by Jemian (I believe there's a hell, but I didn't know it was down the street with a dome on it." Abe Lincoln)
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To: Salvation

I saw it on you tube


5 posted on 01/07/2010 8:52:07 PM PST by BARLF
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To: Salvation
Religion is such a deeply personal issue and it is wrong to discuss what another person should believe.Wrong

Mark 16:15-16 "And he said to them: Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believes not shall he condemned. "

6 posted on 01/07/2010 8:52:14 PM PST by frogjerk
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To: therut

You are absolutely correct in saying Christianity is more than a mere philosophy. It is a relationship with God.


7 posted on 01/07/2010 8:53:06 PM PST by Jemian (I believe there's a hell, but I didn't know it was down the street with a dome on it." Abe Lincoln)
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To: therut
O’Reiley always plays it safe. He always refers to Christianity and Jesus’ teaching as a philosophy. It is more than that. He however can not quite come out with the TRUTH. Maybe he has great doubts or maybe he is afraid. It just bugs me. It is too trivial.

It is because he plays both sides. Guess what, Jesus doesn't allow fence sitting.

8 posted on 01/07/2010 8:54:27 PM PST by frogjerk
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To: frogjerk

You are correct. We are commanded to be bold, not timid. Jesus was not timid, we should not be either.


9 posted on 01/07/2010 8:56:04 PM PST by svcw (The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves. GW)
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To: Salvation
I find it hilarious when the left--with folks like Pelosi who're always bragging about what great Catholics they are while they support murdering children--gets all crazy about people expressing their personal thoughts about religion. They're always crowing about freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but they sincerely believe Christianity is some Great Oppressor, and they can't help but express that belief.

Brit Hume is a commentator. His job is to give his opinion on issues. I did not see his piece, though I heard some of it. He did not do the usual Andy Rooney/Keith Olberman stern secularist lecture, but something individual. That's precisely what a commentator is SUPPOSED to do--why would you hire someone to just toe the line and add on to the media hand-wringing which inevitably follows their weeks of nonstop coverage of the lascivious aspects of such a story?

Hume's "sin" is actually putting forth a point of view some people don't agree with. Wow. I could have sworn that was what the protection of free speech was for--you don't need to protect the speech of those who are saying what everyone else is saying (or everyone who "matters" to the MSM--that is, the MSM).

Does anyone think that if Hume came out and said "Tiger needs to get right with his God" there would be any controversy? Of course not--because it's a completely vanilla thing to say, and without any force of meaning. It's just a cliche people spout as part of the routine we all follow in these cases--again, weeks of photos of the women and coverage of the personal downfall, where we get off on someone powerful getting smashed (due to his own flaws), followed by bullsh*t handwringing about how just terrible it all is, just terrible...oh, wait, there's another hot blonde? Let's get her photo on our front page to sell more copies! Oh, I mean, just terrible, this outrageous behavior...

What Hume did was in one swoop show how full of crap the Olberman's of the world are--he spoke what he was REALLY thinking. This doesn't put one bit of pressure on Woods to do ANYTHING. It's merely one man being honest.

I thought the root of our anger at Woods was that he was dishonest. What hypocrisy to damn Hume for not being dishonest enough.

10 posted on 01/07/2010 8:59:54 PM PST by Darkwolf377 (Bostonian conservative, atheist prolifer)
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To: frogjerk

Be either cold or hot. Lukewarm — I will spit out.

Paraphrasing.


11 posted on 01/07/2010 9:01:18 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

I saw the Hume clip as I was channel surfing, on a televised Don Imus program. After the Hume commentary, Imus made some smug remark, but his side kick Charles McCord,identifying himself as a Christian, defended Hume, and then Imus, lapsed RC that he must be, asked McCord something to the effect of is that a Christian thing to say, as if Imus had just heard of the Christian faith. Anyhow, I have to give Hume a lot of credit for speaking the truth. The Christian faith is the only path to salvation. There is only one way to God, The Father, and that is through His Son, Jesus.


12 posted on 01/07/2010 9:12:55 PM PST by sueuprising
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To: Salvation

Jesus knew professing Him would be a problem, and even addressed it in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” Matthew 5:11

My hat is off to Brit for his clear and unequivocal stand for Christianity. Jesus also had something to say about those who would speak up for Him in this world and how He would be there for them in the next.


13 posted on 01/07/2010 9:32:43 PM PST by jwparkerjr
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To: Darkwolf377

**Hume’s “sin” is actually putting forth a point of view some people don’t agree with.**

I do agree with Hume and am not afraid to say it.


14 posted on 01/07/2010 9:45:03 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: jwparkerjr

Just so happens I posted this on my FB just a few minutes ago:

“Christianity is not a designer religion. God is serious about getting us on His agenda. One of the famous prayers that goes around today is “Jesus, come into my life and make me the person that you want me to be.” We find that the person that God wants us to be is someone who engages the world with His truth. One of the sins of this generation is to make religion a private thing. It never was meant to be private, and the discomfort of making our faith public proclaims God’s control in our lives. Do we shrink from this? Then who is in charge? You don’t have to buy a bullhorn or pass out tracts, but you do need to stand out as one who is ready to acknowledge Jesus to those around you. Jesus doesn’t hold back on this truth and neither should we.” Commentary by:
Dave Whitehead, senior pastor, Grace NYC


15 posted on 01/07/2010 9:57:04 PM PST by My hearts in London - Everett (So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.)
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To: therut

Indeed. Jesus was not a philosopher—pace, George Bush. There was in the Jewish wisdom writers a kind of convergence between Jerusalem and Rome, but only because some Greek Philosophers had offered radical critiques/rejections of the gods which were like that found in the Torah and the writings of the prophets. There was a climate of opinion in the Holy Land which made the teachings of Our Lord rather conventional. Had he remained in his grave, we would have never heard of him It was the Resurrection, not the sermon on the Mount, that created the “Jesus movement,” which we know as Christianity, and which in a remarkably short while spread throughout the Roman and Persian empires.


16 posted on 01/07/2010 10:13:27 PM PST by RobbyS (Pray with the suffering souls.)
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To: Salvation

Buddhism does not address “sin,” per se, but it certainly has a concept of Right and Wrong. “Right Action” is one of the things Buddhists are supposed to be concerned about. And if you do enough wrong actions, you can find yourself stuck in the Hell Realms for a while, or a very bad reincarnation, or both (consecutively, of course). Buddhism is not neutral on moral issues.


17 posted on 01/07/2010 10:38:26 PM PST by Hetty_Fauxvert (PETRAEUS IN 2012 ..... PETRAEUS IN 2012 ..... PETRAEUS IN 2012!)
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To: Salvation

Hume is wrong. Tiger would be smarter to come out as a Muslim because then you can chop off the heads of your enemies while claiming the whole time that yours is a religion of peace and the American media will be terrified to utter one word of condemnation for anything he does in the future.


18 posted on 01/07/2010 11:16:40 PM PST by OrangeHoof ("Barack Obama" is Swahili for "Bend over suckahs".)
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To: Salvation

Hume did well and O’Reilly handled it well.


19 posted on 01/08/2010 8:12:05 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support our troops pray for their victory!)
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