Last week, FOX news anchor Brit Hume became the center of controversy when he suggested that Tiger Woods leave his Buddhist faith, and convert to Christianity to deal with his multiple infidelities.
“I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith,” Hume said. “So my message to Tiger would be, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.’”
These statements, of course, angered Buddhists, who suggest that Hume is ignorant of the 2,500 year old Eastern religion.
Consider the following statements from practitioners of the religion, taken from an AP report on the controversy:
“Buddhism starts with the premise that we suffer,” said James Shaheen, editor and publisher of Tricycle, a Buddhist magazine. “At the foundation of Buddhism is ethics. An ethical life leads to a life of less suffering.”
“Adultery is as much of a sin in Buddhism as it is in Christianity,” Robert Thurman, a professor of Tibetan studies at Columbia University, said. “The ethics are the same in both traditions. Adultery is a sin and causes the kinds of problems that Tiger Woods is in.”
“You have the law of karma, so no matter what Woods says or does, he is going to have to pay for whatever wrongs he’s done,” said Stephen Prothero, a Boston University professor on Buddhism. “There’s no accountant in the sky wiping sins off your balance sheet, like there is in Christianity.”
“I would first tell him to sit with the problem, look into himself and try to see clearly for himself what he needs to do,” Brad Warner, a California-based Zen Priest said. “The problem is something he’s got to work out for himself.”
So, what Buddhists themselves reveal about their faith validates Hume’s comments. Buddhists believe in Karma. What goes around comes around. Because of Woods ignorant and evil actions, he will have to suffer. There will be no escape. His suffering is immediate, and there is no escape from it. As Prothero put it, “he is going to have to pay for whatever wrongs he’s done.”
In contrast, the Christian faith points to Jesus Christ as Savior. Rather than men paying the price for sin, Jesus paid it in their stead. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). While there are physical consequences to Wood’s sins that are unavoidable, ultimately there is redemption and forgiveness available through the blood of Jesus Christ. As the AP writer, Tamara Lush, summarizes, “Believers have to look to themselves and turn to an ethical way of life for redemption, although there are savior figures within the faith who do their best to help a Buddhist in need. There is no one, omnipotent “creator god” to bestow redemption as in Christianity.”
Contrast that sad summary to the succinct words of the apostle John, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Turns out, Hume had it right, and Wood’s would do well to consider what he said.
