Why The MSM Hates The Christian Faith

[lazypadawan]

Brit Hume ended up in hot water because he said on a Fox News show that maybe Buddhism wasn't working out for Tiger Woods and maybe he ought to look into the kind of redemption and forgiveness the Christian faith offers to put his life back together. The media-entertainment-industrial complex were horrified. You see, in the la-la land of the

Comments

[kali_kali]

Now, I don't know the specific phrasing or context in which this guy said that, but from the way you describe it, I do think it is completely inappropriate. Suggesting on a national news show that a celebrity who has personal problems should change their belief system to fix those problems is not in any way respectful or polite of said celebrity.

This isn't an issue with Christianity. Yes, the MSM does frequently debase Christianity, and that's wrong too, but I don't believe that is the case here. Suggesting publicly that someone should change their belief system, and that doing so will make all their problems go away and make it all sunshine and roses again, is rude. Period. People would be up in arms if a journalist walked up to a Christian person who had personal troubles going on (like, say, preacher Ted Haggard), and said "Gee, it seems like Jesus isn't working out for you. Have you considered trying out Vishnu instead?"

Want to profess your faith openly? Talk about what Jesus has done for you? Sure, go ahead. But saying on a national TV show that someone else should change their beliefs to fix their life is not cool. You get more flies with honey than with vinegar - say what your faith has done for you to make you happy, not what someone else's faith/lack thereof lacks and may contribute to their unhappiness. There is a difference.

Yes, I am an atheist. But I'm cool with religious people. I've attended a number of religious services, and they're nice and often quite beautiful. Heck, I even walked 600km across Spain because I thought doing a Catholic pilgrimage was nifty. But spirituality just isn't for me. I do however take issue with people telling me that it should be, and that I'm a bad person for not having a religion. If religion works for you, that's cool. You can even tell me what it has done to make your life awesome, I'm fine with that. But don't tell me that my life is empty and meaningless without it.

I'm trusting that people here can tell the difference between these two approaches when talking about faith.

[kizmet_42]

You've walked the pilgrimage to Santiago?

That's one of the few regrets I have in my life that I'll never be able to do it (unless the knee transplants are really good. I shouldn't have waited.

[kali_kali]

Aye. And I think you could, nothing is impossible :) People do it in all sorts of ways. People walk, people cycle, people ride horses. I've heard of people doing it in wheelchairs (though, like with bicycles, in some parts they would need to take alternate routes rather than the signposted one due to terrain). If you can walk, but simply can't do too much at once, there are no rules saying how far you need to walk any given day. Along the way I met a Belgian woman who was over 70, who had trouble with her knees, but she still walked every day. If you want it, it will happen :)

[audiodrops]

Excellent comment.

[lazypadawan]

That's not really how he put it. It was more along the lines of, "Maybe you ought to give it a shot, because it might help." Buddhism doesn't have the same concept of sin nor is the idea of forgiveness and redemption a cornerstone of Buddhism the same way it is for Christianity. I don't think Hume was saying, "My religion can beat up your religion." I think he meant it as a sincere way to help Tiger Woods out of the hole he's dug himself into. Had Hume suggested TM, Deepak Chopra's books, a session with Dr. Phil, or some Native American sweatlodge instead, I don't think anyone would care or would think it's judgmental, mean, or inappropriate.

[kali_kali]

There's a difference though between suggesting someone should change their belief system and suggesting that they try activity X or Y. For example, in this situation, maybe he could have suggested reading the Bible. That could have been appropriate.