I don’t think that faith [Buddhism] offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. – Brit Hume on Fox News
At first I tried to shrug this off. But it kept eating at me. Why? Fox News and many members of Christianity hold a certitude in their One TruthTM and espouse it in an attempt-to-save-and-condemn-the-rest strategy. It’s nothing new.
Then I read this: Sociological Images made an excellent point in Brit Hume: Only Christianity Can Save Tiger Woods:
It’s an interesting example of how many Americans treat Christianity as the default, “normal,” and the best religion for everyone. Can you imagine Fox News, or any other news outlet, intentionally giving air time to a person saying that Tiger Woods needs to convert from Christianity to Buddhism (or any other religion) if he’s going to change his behavior? Can you imagine the outcry if the suggested religion was Islam?
That’s what bothered me. I identified with the slighted Buddhists, and felt offended on their behalf for the tolerance Fox News had for him (when news anchors have been fired for less). Yet I was also offended for my own faith. Why should I feel embarrassed or shamed (or that I should feel shamed or embarrassed) for following a minority religion, one that isn’t “default” or even “normal”?
"Fair and Balanced" graphic used at Fox News via Wikipedia
Later, Brit Hume bemoaned angry reactions to his claim, claiming that Christianity in America is under attack. Oh please. He insulted Buddhists directly, and put down every other religion in an attempt to elevate his own.
The Daily Show covered Brit Hume’s hypocrisy in “The Temple of Hume” with characteristic wit and satire:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Temple of Hume | ||||
|
||||
What are your thoughts on what Brit Hume said?
Related Articles
- Telling Tiger Woods to Become Christian is ‘Not Proselytizing’: Brit Hume [Proselytizing] (gawker.com)
- Brit Hume Needs To Stop Proselytizing [Proselytizing] (gawker.com)
- Brit Hume: ‘As Victims of Unfair Media Treatment Go, Shirley Sherrod Got Off Easy’ (videocafe.crooksandliars.com)
- Brit Hume Tries to Gloss Over Fox’s Role in Helping Breitbart Attack Shirley Sherrod and the NAACP (videocafe.crooksandliars.com)
Helleneste kai Grammateus 
I agree that it is tempting to just laugh something like this off. But I also agree that we unfortunately can’t afford to do that.
One of the reasons this rubs people the wrong way is that our collective psyche is still deeply ingrained with the horrific memories of what the Brit Humes of this world were doing not so long ago. European nations still had the death penalty for blasphemy as late as the 18th century.
And even today wealthy western (and overwhelmingly Christian) nations are exporting actual witch hunting to Africa and other parts of the world. American based “Pentecostalism” has been the fastest growing religious movement on earth over the last 50 years ago. These are people who accept ideas like “demon possession” and “exorcism” as just a standard part of their Christianity. And in places, like Africa, where traditional forms of religion still survive, that translates in witch-hunting.
Brit Hume is a fool, but he needs to be taken seriously.
Agreed. Although, I like the Daily Show only in part because it’s funny. The great thing about satire is that it exposes the truth and makes one think.
I;m going to hijack the comments section just to say, I’m so psyched you have a blog! Why didn’t I know this before!?
Looking forward to reading your posts. – Mamiel (Ellen in San Fran)
*waves* Hi Ellen! I suppose I should have talked about this blog more. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
I am tired of shrugging off this kind of tripe. I get progressively more sick of the continual chorus of “America is a Christian nation” nonsense. It reminds me of a dog training book I had—it describes how a dog being trained OUT of a bad behavior will suddenly sport the worst of those behaviors just before finally giving up: this is called “extinction behavior.”
I sometimes think that is what some of the more right wingnutty Christians in America is engaging in as it dawns on them that they aren’t the only cool kids on the block anymore. Not only do I not desire to shrug it off, I want to whack ’em with a newspaper….
I agree with Mr. Hume. He is a Christian and as so has the responsibility to proclaim the message of Christianity that Christ is the one and only way to truly know God. Jesus made that clear in the New Testament and gave each Christian their collective mission in Matthew 2819-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
For Brit to not have spoken what he did, when he did would have been to abandon his faith.
It was an inappropriate use of air time, and an insult to every other religion, but Buddhism in particular.
Furthermore, it was Paul (who lived decades after Jesus died) that began the movement of proselytizing outside of the Jewish people. Jesus didn’t condone that.
I’d like to see Fox give the same air time to Islam, pagan religions, and Buddhism most of all.
So, basically, you think that because he told his apostles this (and they were basically the “professionals”….not simple followers) you feel EVERY Christian needs to be proselytizing in every aspect of life every day? Because that strikes me as rather over the top crazy. Right up there with the common belief about Moslems that they ALL have to be engaging in jihad every day of their life because one or two mentions of “battling for the faith” in the Koran.
A good point. To my knowledge, Brit Hume isn’t an apostle.
Nope, he didn’t appear in my King James, lol….and sorry that didn’t appear in direct reply to the poster saying a Christian had to abandon his faith if he wasn’t (apparently) non-stop deluging the rest of the world with proselytizing pies in the face. I do not recall ANY part of the New Testament (regardless how often it has been reworked) where Jesus tells EVERY follower that they must be non-top pains in the world’s tail.