Contact: Susan A. Fani, Director of Communications, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 212-371-3191, catalyst@catholicleague.org  

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the on-going reaction to Fox News analyst Brit Hume's plea to Tiger Woods that he turn to Christianity and seek forgiveness:

Anyone who doesn't understand the premium that Christianity puts on forgiveness is badly educated, but that is no excuse for the kind of vitriol that has been spewed against Brit Hume. For advising Tiger Woods to consider Christianity, Hume has been roundly condemned by those whose highest virtue is being non-judgmental. He has been compared to Islamic extremists by Keith Olbermann of MSNBC; he has been the subject of endless blogs ridiculing him and his religion; and is now being counseled by Tom Shales of the Washington Post to apologize.

None of Hume's critics, of course, seem to have any problem with the increasingly aggressive campaigns launched by atheists seeking to proselytize Christians. During this past Christmas season, we were treated to a slew of atheist evangelizing efforts, ranging from billboards in towns across America to posters on urban buses, all designed to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity. In England, author Philip Pullman is pushing for an atheist curriculum in the elementary schools, and his fellow countryman and cohort, Richard Dawkins, wants summer camps aimed at weaning kids away from Christianity. These examples, of course, are seen by Hume's critics as nothing more than exercises in free speech. But when he speaks, as an analyst, not as a reporter, he's put on the liberal watch-list as a closet Taliban.

When George W. Bush was reelected in 2004, all we heard from this gang was about the coming theocracy that threatened to engulf America. Even they didn't think that the worst that would happen was a soundbite from Brit Hume touting the teachings of Christianity.

http://catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1745