Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

I was driving home this morning listening to the local sports radio show and the talk was of course all about the upcoming Tiger Woods press conference. We are waiting, patiently, to see Tiger fall upon the alter of public opinion and be whipped like Henry II in the movie Becket. It is what we want and it is what we the public really believe that we deserve. As Tiger spin-doctors we can watch and look at him down our collective very moral noses and whisper “Tsk, Tsk”. How can we here in America do this when we very well know that it is our society that created the environment that was o.k. with this behavior as long as we did not know about it?  The fact, not the truth because truth is a belief backed up by only part of the facts, but the fact is that part of the American Dream is the ability to vilify someone for doing something we have also done or wish also could do.

That is alright with us. Being a hypocrite is an American right; I am surprised it has not been added as an Amendment to the Constitution it is so ingrained in us. Look at many of our American heroes: John Wayne cheated on several wives, President Kennedy and President Clinton had notable trysts. That is the society that we live in. It makes me wonder how many other golfers and how many of the journalists condemning or commenting on Tiger could be accused of the same thing. Very often we condemn most harshly those who commit the sames sins that we do. Of course that is the problem here: we still consider as a society what Tiger did was wrong. Well as a society, fact it, it wasn’t. The sin was in showing publicly what kind of people we are privately.

Now, as an individual I have no problem if you believe that Tiger was wrong and acted terribly in embaressing his wife, himself, and his sport. If your religious beliefs hold adultery as a sin or if you just believe in your own morality that his behavior was wrong, then good for you! Stick to your guns and show your children / people around you that you are a credit to your belief system. Do not forget however, that most religions believe in forgiveness and compassion as well.

As a society however, we need to realize that no matter what our personal beliefs, that morality is not synonymous with legality or even with good citizenship.  Plenty of compassionate and hard working good citizens are philanderers, addicted to sex, and have different sexual morals than the primary religions would suggest are appropriate.  We choose our leaders because we perceive them to be good leaders, not good people. We HOPE that they are good people but when your life is on the line do ou prefer the hard drinking hard fighting womanizer or the pleasant but mediocre general?  I know what my choice would be; your mileage may very.

So when Tiger kneels before us today keep in mind that what he is apologizing for is for being Human in an age of moral transition that is alright with imperfect heroes as long as no one knows about their imperfections.

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