Dear Mr. Hume,

This letter is in response to your recent comments on Fox News regarding Tiger Woods, comments that demonstrated a shocking degree of insensitivity and, quite frankly, ignorance regarding religion and philosophy. You suggested that Tiger should “turn to the Christian faith” because his non-Christian, Buddhist views were inadequate. You said his recovery from his current difficult situation would “depend on his faith,” with your conclusion being that Christian faith would be the proper path.

Not only would such commentary seem to be very unprofessional coming from a broadcast journalist working for a major network that claims to present unbiased news, but such statements are a direct slap in the face to the billions of people around the world who live decent lives, including lives that recover from difficult and challenging situations, without the Christian faith. It seems that your own narrow view of the world, akin to an ethnocentrism that has difficulty believing that the ways of others can be as legitimate as your own, has allowed you to incorrectly exalt your own world view as superior to others.

In short, your comments are shameful, and you owe an apology to non-Christians around the country and around the world. You may respond by saying that criticism of your statements amounts to an intolerance of your Christianity. Such is not the case, however, for I fully understand your right to your religious views. But when you use a public forum to brazenly insult billions of people around the world, your statements will not go unchallenged. If you seriously wish to debate the truth of your statements, the AHA would be glad to do so. Otherwise, you should concede that you are wrong and apologize accordingly.

Very truly yours,

 

David Niose
President
American Humanist Association