Fox News Anchorman Brit Hume Claims that Tiger Woods Can Be Saved If He Leaves Buddhism and Becomes a Christian

Imagine my surprise when I turned on my television to find the top United States news show denouncing Buddhism. Strange days indeed.

I try and avoid Fox News as much as possible. I am not American and it just isn't the sort of thing that I like to watch. The fact that I only have two English speaking channels on my television means that I do sometimes switch it on for as a break from Thai TV; I usually regret it and today was no exception. I happened to turn on while the O'Reilly factor was in motion. I got to see Brit Hume claim that Tiger Woods would be forgiven his recent misdemeanors if he stopped being a Buddhist and became Christian.

This strikes me as an odd way for a news anchor to behave on television. We certainly live in a cynical world when those responsible for providing the news ask sports people to change religion in order to save their reputation. It also seems to imply that being a Buddhist makes people more prone to evil. I suppose Brit has point here; after all America is predominately Christian and there is hardly any crime.

Tiger Wood's mother is from Thailand and she is a Buddhist. He has previously claimed that this is his personal philosophy. Most Thai people see Buddhism as their religion; they don't seek converts but they like to have their beliefs respected.

Karma is an important part of Buddhism; if you do wrong you pay the karmic price for it. There is no sin only cause and effect. It is not just of case of saying you're sorry or changing your beliefs. If Tiger decides to change his religion in order to placate the American people what would be the point of it. Do you have to be Christian in America to be worthy of forgiveness? This is not the United States that you hear about when you meet people from that country.

I know a lot of Christians and I'm sure that they would not agree with Brit Hume; most support religious tolerance. I have no interest in slandering Fox news, but is this fair and balanced? Many Americans seem to love Fox news; this is not my business and I don't want to enter that debate. It just seems like a crazy way for a television station to behave; especially as it is broadcast in a predominately Buddhist country like Thailand.