Self-Righteous Brit Hume Engages In Religious Bigotry Against Tiger Woods

Fox News right-wing commentator and religious expert Brit Hume (on the Sunday, Jan. 3 edition of Fox News Sunday) offered golfing phenom Tiger Woods, experiencing no shortage of marital problems these days, some religious advice. Hume, reminiscent of Europeans who went into Africa to colonize and civilize blacks (by introducing and imposing their religious beliefs), was strong in his words of advice toward Woods.

HUME: 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. . . . 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. 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.’

Hume seems to be engaging in what is little more than religious bigotry by taking it upon himself to define Buddhism and suggest Woods just abandon it and embrace Christianity.

Check out this video of the historic Alex Haley film “Roots.” Fast forward to about 6:55 of this clip to see the relevance (below the video is the transcript).

Hume’s comment made me think long and hard about this particular scene from that film.

CAPTAIN DAVIES: What are they like…the blacks?

MR. SLATER: They’re just a different kind of breed, sir. A man breeds a dog for hunting…and breeds another sort of dog for his family. Blacks are slow-minded but strong. They’re made for slavery like you’re made to run this ship. The natural order of things, eh?

DAVIES: Yes. Yes, I could understand that, I suppose.

SLATER: It’s good for them, us taking them like that. They’re better off for it, sir.

DAVIES: I’m not sure I understand that part, Mr. Slater.

SLATER: For one thing, there’s Christianity. We’re bringing them to a Christian land. That’s got to be better for them than the heathen Allah they got now. That’s the first thing. Second is…we’re saving them from being eaten by their own kind. They do that, you know. Cannibals, all of them.

DAVIES: As I said before, Mr. Slater…below decks, you’re the expert.

Maybe Hume feels like he is civilizing Woods by trying to convert him to Christianity … much like Mr. Slater believed in “Roots.”

The religious bigotry from Hume, however, displays a shameful form of ignorance and bigotry. It also shows that Hume has learned nothing from the bigoted beliefs (symbolic of intolerance) of some people 400 years ago.

It’s not to say Hume is exactly like slave masters, but it is sad he has not learned a little something about religious bigotry from that horrible legacy.

Check out how a few conservatives are predictably coming to the defense of Hume: http://mediamatters.org/research/201001040038

Florida Student Sent Home For Hateful And Racist Message

Just in case you didn’t think anti-Muslim racism and anti-Islam hatred continues in the United States of American then you have been asleep at the wheel. A Florida high school student came in with a hateful T-shirt and was sent home by the school. This is a highly disturbing story I initially spotted on the Web site Think Progress where it initially caught my attention. The hateful, bigoted message on the shirt (as you can see in the photo) reads “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL.”

“Students have a right of free speech, and we have allowed students to come to school wearing clothes with messages,” Wittmer said. “But this message is a divisive message that is likely to offend students.” [...]

He said there also has to be equal treatment of different faiths.

“The next kid might show up with a shirt saying ‘Christianity is of the Devil,’” Wittmer said.

This kind of speech is hateful, bigoted and the school district was proper in its decision to send these individuals home to hopefully think about the ridiculous nature of their actions and their clothing choices. This is a dangerous time in our society where hate, bigotry and racism can spark unspeakable acts of violence. In the years since 9/11, the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim hate has only grown stronger in this nation. The good people of this country have to decide that they are going to stand up against this kind of hatred that creates a hostile environment for people.

Here is a passage with a quote from the young lady in question:

Wayne Sapp’s daughter, Emily Sapp, 15, was the student sent home from Gainesville High on Tuesday. Both Faith and Emily Sapp said it was their decision, not that of their parents, to wear the shirts to school in order to promote their Christian beliefs. Emily Sapp said the “Islam is of the Devil” statement was aimed at the religion’s beliefs, not its members.

“The people are fine,” she said. “The people are people. They can be saved like anyone else.”

Sadly, Emily simply doesn’t get it.

While trying to excuse herself from the disguised racism that is virtually unmistakable, she is trying to say it’s just about religion. However, condemning an entire religion (which is up for interpretation since some would say the same things about Christianity. That too is wrong) is no less hateful, stupid or wrong than condemning an entire race.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/26/islam-devil-shirt/

The Gainesville Sun:
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090825/ARTICLES/908259940/1002/NEWS01?Title=More-students-wear-Islam-of-the-Devil-shirts-to-school