Was Brit Hume Right About Tiger Woods?

You’ll want to tune into tomorrow’s Focus on the Family broadcast featuring a conversation with former Fox anchorman, Brit Hume. I caught up with Brit during a recent trip to Washington, D.C. and discussed the suicide of his son, journalism as a profession, and his faith in Jesus.

Of special interest is what Brit told me regarding his “controversial” suggestion that Tiger Woods should embrace the forgiveness offered by Christianity.

Let me take you back to January 3, 2010 when Brit, as a guest commentator on Fox News Sunday, offered this analysis of Tiger Woods future in light of his adulterous relationships:

Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person I think is a very open question, and it’s a tragic situation for him. I think he’s lost his family, it’s not clear to me if he’ll be able to have a relationship with his children, but the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal—the extent to which he can recover—seems to me to depend on his faith.

If that’s all Brit had said, he would have stayed on “safe” ground—at least in the eyes of some. But he didn’t. Motivated out of a heart which had been changed by Jesus, Brit longed to see Tiger Woods experience God’s grace and forgiveness. Brit went on to say:

He’s said to be a Buddhist; I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. 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.”

As you can imagine the uproar has been fierce. One commentator called Brit a “pompous TV anchor” who was “rude and crass” for making his observation on television; others weighed in saying Brit was “sanctimonious” and accused him of practicing “religious bigotry.”

Brit wasn’t entirely surprised by the backlash. After all, he’s a seasoned journalist. For more than 40 years, he’s worked for several newspapers and networks, and served as ABC’s chief White House correspondent. If anybody knows how the media and pundits can grill you, it’d be Brit. And yet, Brit had the courage and conviction to speak what he believes.

Does he plan to retract his statement?

Would he do it all over again?

Be sure to tune in to hear, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, news, pop culture February 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura