"I'm Buddhist, dahling...."
Posted on 01/08/2010 5:13:30 AM PST by Kaslin
The first rule of dinner-table conversation is no hot talk about politics or religion. Apparently, there's a rule regarding the discussion of religion during political talk shows, too.
On "Fox News Sunday" on Jan. 3, the panelists had advanced to that light part of the discussion where they focusing on movies and crime novelists. Venerated newsman Brit Hume turned to sports, and predicted Tiger Woods would return to success as a golfer. But if he really wanted to recover as a person, Hume suggested, he should consider Christianity. Woods is a Buddhist, he said, but Christianity offered the forgiveness and redemption that could really make Woods a powerful role model for faith and recovery.
Ka-boom. Oh, what a reaction erupted. Some in the secular elite acted like Hume had set the national house on fire and broken all the fine china. Some TV talk show hosts quite seriously compared Hume's comments to those of "Islamic extremists" waging a "holy war."
Asked about this reaction, Hume told CNSNews.com he was "not surprised" by the backlash and accused the media of having a "double standard" when it comes to religion: "If I had said, for example, that what Tiger Woods needed to do was become more deeply engaged in his Buddhist faith or adopt the ideas of Hinduism, which I think would be of great spiritual value to him, I doubt anybody would have said anything."
No one in the secular media is supposed to assert his religion is true, or that his is best, or even that his faith can heal a father, marriage and family. These suddenly manners-conscious secularists insist that religion be a "very private matter," and by that they mean something neither seen nor heard, and for G-'s sakes, it's something you certainly don't put on national television. "I think it's been true for a long time in many cultures," said Hume, "It is certainly true in secular America today that the most controversial two words you can ever utter in a public space are 'Jesus Christ.'"
They want to build a very high brick wall, with barbed wire on top, separating church and TV studio.
The sudden arrival of these punctilious Emily Posts of religious discussion is strangest because Christianity is so routinely and thoroughly mocked and denigrated across our news and entertainment outlets without an ounce of concern for offending the average Christian. Hume's chat is intolerable, yet "South Park" or "Family Guy" can put Christianity through a shredder, and they are cheered for their "irreverence."
Speaking of which, there is also the matter of who Hume is: a sober, respected newsman's newsman. It was jarring to hear him talk of Jesus Christ in the opposite way from "South Park," in reverent terms, offering hope to Tiger Woods. To the TV tastemakers, it sounded like a bad commercial for a very artificial product.
Tender concern for the soul of Woods has not been the dominant cultural theme. The discovery that this very talented golfing legend was severely cheating on the mother of his young children came first as a shock. But it very quickly turned into a punch line. Within days, Tiger became a conventional piece of gossip-sheet meat, like Paris, Lindsay or Britney, a scandalous figure that we are all supposed to enjoy mocking and disparaging. Maybe he deserved that. But Hume aimed higher -- and very quickly became much more judged than Woods.
Many cultural analysts didn't really want Woods to be judged, and found wanting. His adultery was his business, and his golfing talent was almost a license to misbehave.
At the epicenter of our secular cultural media is a writer named Jenny Block, who argued at Newsweek's website it was not surprising to learn of Woods' multiple affairs because his "entire life is based on winning; on having, doing, and being more ... why on earth would anyone think 'settling down' was even in his vocabulary?"
Block declared without reservation that she had cheated on her husband with another woman, and she was the norm, not the exception. Now they were in one of those fabulously open marriages with no judgmental God and no real vows or commitments. "Monogamy just isn't always realistic. There's nothing wrong with admitting that. It simply doesn't work for some. And just as people choose different religions, eating habits, and places to call home, I believe we should be able to choose different ways to live out our relationships."
This kind of evangelism doesn't cause the cultural elite to explode at the national dinner table. How does any culture build strong families and strong children if that chaotic and abnormal view dominates? If America lived in less of a morally upside-down world, it's Jenny Block who would be sitting in Brit Hume's corner wearing the dunce's cap.
bttt
The secular elite don’t want to hear the name of Jesus Christ because it makes them feel guilt. And for them, that is a feeling that is absolutely unnecessary....................
“...his(Woods) golfing talent was almost a license to misbehave.”
golfing talent + his race = license to misbehave.
And there are two very young children involved. The wife, Elin, being Swedish, is probably at least nominally Christian, probably Lutheran “by tradition.” One wonders if the children are being exposed to either Christianity or Buddhism. My guess is that they are not.
So....marriage, as defined by Jenny Block, is being unmarried. Some news outlets would do well to reconsider before giving a 9-year old a magaphone.
Good for Brit. He knew as well as anyone he was broaching the taboo with his statement concerning Woods, redemption, and Christianity. Brit’s now taking the flak he had to know would be coming and can now consider himself blessed for the sake of righteousness.
Just add him to the list of many other “false idols”, Bryant, Vick....etc, etc
The author doesn't even mention 'wife'.
not surprising to learn of Woods' multiple affairs because his "entire life is based on winning; on having, doing, and being more
Yes, having bimbo's all over the place is hard. Staying true to your marriage vows and wife - childs play.
Gee, I wonder if seeing marriage as a loss, as full stop on all opportunities to grow or improve, has anything to do with this silly twit "needing" more than her husband to be satisfied.
Nah...must be global warming that did it.
“his race”???? Woods is multi-racial — he’s got white blood in him too, as well as Asian and Native American. He’s not black.
Ricardo Montalban once said, “Any dog can jump from bed to bed. It takes a real man to satisfy a woman for a lifetime.”
I expect on one level you're right but I also think that it's because they don't want anyone other than government (themselves) to arbitrate right and wrong.
It never ceases to floor me when I start a secular humanists talking about how one knows the difference between right and wrong. They are absolutely stupid on the issue and you'll see a lot of it on exhibit in the comments on the Hume/Woods story.
““his race”???? Woods is multi-racial”
...of course...he’s the perfect poster boy for the multi-cultural enthusists...that’s partly why they loved him so.
There are no absolutes in a secular humanist’s world, only gray areas, ill defined outlines of human behavior, and fuzzy feel good morality rules. “Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?” “If it feels good, do it!” “All cultures are equal.” “Diversity is strength.”.............
C.S. Lewis in the first few chapters of “Mere Christianity” explains that guilt reflex to a “T”.
Actually he’s less black than Halle Berry who has a white mother and a black father (50-50), Tiger is at the most 33% black according to the definitions around.
So does Aldous Huxley................
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