Well, you knew this was going to happen. Monday night’s episode of The Daily Show of course addressed Brit Hume’s comments about Buddhism’s inability to redeem Tiger Woods.
After the jump, we’ve got video from that Daily Show piece, plus video of sharp reactions from Don Imus, and Keith Olbermann and Dan Savage, as well as Howard Stern’s comments, after the jump.
First, the Daily Show:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Best F**king News Team Ever – Tiger Woods’ Faith | ||||
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And The Daily Show will not be alone; other “fundits” are sure to follow. Howard Stern, for his part, was incredulous this morning when discussing Hume’s comments about Buddhism: “This is unbelievable — this guy used to be impartial. [...] [Then, addressing Hume:] “Aren’t you supposed to be a network anchorman?”
Next: Radio host (and Stern nemesis) Don Imus has now weighed in, too. Imus had a pretty thoughtful go at it, and it’s worth noting that this aired on the FOX business channel:
No word from Stephen Colbert yet; he dedicated most of Monday night’s program to the US Olympic curling team. It seems a sure thing that he’ll comment on tonight’s episode of The Repor’. Perhaps we’ll see the return of Colbert’s go-to Buddhist, Lama Surya Das? (Update on that: Nope. No mention the Hume controversy took place. Instead Colbert focused his time on a post-Christmas-plane-bombing-attempt segment called “Nightmare of Terror: The Crapification of the American Pantscape.” It kinda looks like these episodes were pre-filmed; no true “day’s events.”)
One more update: Keith Olbermann and Dan Savage lent their voices to the discussion last night. (Savage does have a point here.) Hat tip to Gina Phelan.
More/timeline:
Tiger Woods: Should he ditch Buddhism for Christianity? FOX’s Brit Hume thinks so. (Jan 3, 2010)
Video: The Daily Show, Don Imus, Dan Savage, and Howard Stern weigh in on Brit Hume’s view of Buddhism (Jan 5, 2010)
Brit Hume-and-Buddhism update(s): New WTOP interview; Daily Show #2 (Jan 5, 2010)Tiger Woods’ addresses his Buddhism in media statement: “I lost track of what I was taught” (Updated) (February 19, 2010)
“Mindful Divorce” judge on Tiger Woods: Buddhism can help (February 20, 2010)
11 Comments
WTOP via USAToday has a new interview with Brit Hume.
bit.ly/7VrCpK
It's ironic because all this attention is just going to make people curious as to what Buddhism is about and some will eventually practice it because of this. So he's going about this the wrong way to win over Buddhist converts. Buddhists don't proselytize…Buddhism is more like a flower where it blooms where its planted and lets the bees come to us IF their karma compels them toward us.
Thank you! Very notable!
Ugh, "… reincarnated as, like, a dung beetle or something …" They're killin' me with all of the reincarnation talk!
Matthew 10:22
22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Don Savage is talking ignorantly. Mr. Hume's in not saying Christianity offers the best deal for adulterers, but sinners and all men are born in sin.
What the man is saying is that redemption and salvation is not in Buddhism, so the best thing for Tiger Woods to do is to ask God for forgiveness because thats Who he has sinned against ultimately and thats the one who will abundantly pardon.
This goes for mankind not just Tiger Woods!
I knew it was only a matter of time before the Christian "disaster control" team showed up on everyone's blog
Paul,
While that may be true….
It's not mans responsibility to keep up to date on who's god they may or may not have pissed off, there isn't enough time in the day to please everyone's god. Generally most people keep to their own. You don't sacrifice a goat every time you upset some Aztec deity do you? I didn't think so.
You shouldn't throw hot stones at flying birds.
Just a thought.
No. He sinned against his family and himself. He should seek forgiveness from them alone.
People in general need to re-think monogamy. It isn't natural and obviously isn't working (around 50% divorce rate).
Okay folks. Let me clear this up for everyone. Salvation and redemption are CLEARLY the goal of Buddhism. The system of redemption otherwise known as Enlightenment is simple and taught by the Buddha (who is not considered a god or god-like, but rather a human mentor) as such:
The Four Noble Truths
1. Our inherent condition is to suffering (The truth of Suffering).
2. That Suffering is largely caused by desire (The truth of Desire)
3. All phenomena have a beginning and end (The truth of cessation)
4. That the end of Suffering, is to follow the eight-fold path (The truth of Enlightenment).
These are:
1. Right ViewWisdom
2. Right Intention
3. Right SpeechEthical Conduct
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right EffortMental Development
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
So anyone can see that Desire is our chief enemy. Doing away with that impulse and cause of pain (hello Tiger) is salvation.
@Paul, can you explain what YOU know about Buddhism that makes you so sure it doesn't offer redemption and salvation?
As for Hume, I'm going to take a different view than many. In fact, I'm going to side with Paul (for a different reason of course.) In fact, I'm going to say Hume is RIGHT. I don't think Buddhism offers the same sort of forgiveness and redemption as Christianity.
Having been a Christian, I am pretty sure that accepting Christ as one's savior means you get everlasting life. (John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.) Additionally, if you believe in Jesus you're not condemned. (John 3:18 "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.")
So, theoretically, you can be an axe murderer, genuinely accept Christ THREE minutes before the electric chair, and STILL get eternal salvation because you believe. Buddhism doesn't have an out like that. You don't get to erase your actions (karma). This is why being mindful is so important for Buddhists. If you fail to be fully present/see the world as it is in a moment, you run risk of acting in ways that will have less than fortunate repercussions. That's not to say that unpleasant things won't happen. (They will. That's one of the bedrock principles of Buddhism.) But there really isn't any need to add "challenges."
No one can absolve you of your actions. YOU must change your karma.