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'My God is bigger, badder than your God'
"My God beats yours." That's the essential message of triumphalism.
You can hear its marching band tooting along as various commentators parade across the airways and Internet debating which is the one true faith that can rescue Tiger Woods' reputation. The current drum major is Brit Hume, appearing at microphones daily to repeat his call to Tiger to turn to Jesus and Hume's own religion.
It's one thing, however to testify to the peace, wisdom, joy and comfort your particular faith has given you. It's another to trash talk others' path to spiritual truth and a life of goodness beyond the so-called good life.
No religion or atheist philosophy offers cover for serial adultery. There might be many paths to moral and social restoration for the wayward golfer -- and spiritual restoration as well, if Tiger hungers for that.
Mollie Hemingway, posting at Get Religion takes a calm walk through the coverage of Brit Hume's ongoing altar call to Woods. She points out the irrelevance of all the coverage citing various flawed Christians in the news. And she does it without any notes of triumphalism. She writes:
I've always had this suspicion that the mainstream media thinks Christianity is basically a set of rules, mostly about sex, that are imperfectly followed by hypocrites such as Haggard and Swaggart. And in the media's defense, I think this view could be based in part on what some of the more media-friendly Christian figures teach.
But what if the central teaching of Christianity is forgiveness? To say that "Christianity isn't always the answer" because some prominent Christian mega-tele-preachers have sinned sexually in violation of their church's teachings denies the view that Christianity is a "great answer" for sinners such as myself who are in desperate need of forgiveness.
Note her phrasing: "a 'great answer'" she says. Not "the only" or "the best" -- although she clearly indicates it's the only one and the best one for her. The door is open in this for serious thinking and exploration.
Has coverage of Hume's comments prompted you to look into teachings on forgiveness in your faith or any other?
..
"My God beats yours." That's the essential message of triumphalism.
You can hear its marching band tooting along as various commentators parade across the airways and Internet debating which is the one true faith that can rescue Tiger Woods' reputation. The current drum major is Brit Hume, appearing at microphones daily to repeat his call to Tiger to turn to Jesus and Hume's own religion.
It's one thing, however to testify to the peace, wisdom, joy and comfort your particular faith has given you. It's another to trash talk others' path to spiritual truth and a life of goodness beyond the so-called good life.
No religion or atheist philosophy offers cover for serial adultery. There might be many paths to moral and social restoration for the wayward golfer -- and spiritual restoration as well, if Tiger hungers for that.
Mollie Hemingway, posting at Get Religion takes a calm walk through the coverage of Brit Hume's ongoing altar call to Woods. She points out the irrelevance of all the coverage citing various flawed Christians in the news. And she does it without any notes of triumphalism. She writes:
I've always had this suspicion that the mainstream media thinks Christianity is basically a set of rules, mostly about sex, that are imperfectly followed by hypocrites such as Haggard and Swaggart. And in the media's defense, I think this view could be based in part on what some of the more media-friendly Christian figures teach.
But what if the central teaching of Christianity is forgiveness? To say that "Christianity isn't always the answer" because some prominent Christian mega-tele-preachers have sinned sexually in violation of their church's teachings denies the view that Christianity is a "great answer" for sinners such as myself who are in desperate need of forgiveness.
Note her phrasing: "a 'great answer'" she says. Not "the only" or "the best" -- although she clearly indicates it's the only one and the best one for her. The door is open in this for serious thinking and exploration.
Has coverage of Hume's comments prompted you to look into teachings on forgiveness in your faith or any other?
..
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