Evening Update: SunSpace reader Jigme points us now to a new WTOP interview with Hume from earlier this evening. The newsman doesn’t seem to slag Buddhism as he did in his first controversial statement, but he does “ramp up his pitch of the superiority of Christianity,” as USA Today puts it.
Hume also argues that it’s his Christian faith that has left him open to attack from those who misunderstand him: “Suppose I’d said that what Tiger needed to do was to deepen his practice of the Buddhist faith. You think we’d be discussing this today?”
Here’s a link to the audio. (Opens in new window.) Also, for those wondering what The Daily Show had to say in Tuesday night’s 11pm show: The Daily Show pretty much led off with the Hume story. Correspondent Aasif Mandvi (a seemingly out-of-nowhere great) expressed sympathy for Hume, saying that he felt bad that Hume received negative messages in response to his comments via, as Mandvi described it, “the Internet — where, as far as I know, only nice things are said.” Mandvi, identifying himself as a practitioner of Islam, went on in his mock sympathy: “I forgot how hard it is to be Christian — because it’s so easy to be Muslim.”
That statement was then followed by a montage of clips of FOX News hosts and talking heads mocking Indians, suggesting that all young Muslim men should be strip-searched (at airports, one presumes), and generally, as Mandvi put it, “shitting on Hindus.”
As for The Colbert Report: Stephen Colbert’s go-to Buddhist, Lama Surya Das, did not appear (as I’d imagined he’d would). In fact, no mention of the Hume controversy took place. Instead, Colbert focused the bulk of his show on a post-Christmas-plane-bombing-attempt segment called “Nightmare of Terror: The Crapification of the American Pantscape.”
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)
5 Comments
Of course not, silly person. But then you wouldn't have been urging him to convert, would you?
It's all labels. Buddhist, Christianity. Its the same God. Just appreciate God and don't care aobut others views.
It's all labels. Buddhist, Christianity. Its the same God. Just appreciate God and don't care aobut others views.
no it is not. To say that two different and distinct religious traditions are the same does a great disservice to both.
Besides, Buddhism does not even address the notion of God, so they cannot appreciate what they don't address.
A more realistic suggestion would be to celebrate the commonalities between the two and to RESPECT that there are differences differences.
Many people “drift away from their faith.” There are more Christian “drifters” than Buddhists because there are more Christians (2.5 million vs. 400 million…who does this counting?).
Infidelity has no religious boundaries. Stupidity is not limited to any faith. Regret is universal (the biggest regret is that they got caught).