Brit Hume Stands by Call for Tiger Woods to Convert to Christianity

Brit Hume drew quite a bit of criticism when he suggested on "Fox News Sunday" that Tiger Woods' Buddhist faith is insufficient to deal with the golfer's personal problems and that he should convert to Christianity as a path to "forgiveness and redemption." (Analysis by Politics Daily's David Gibson here.) On Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor" Monday night, Hume denied that he was proselytizing, but said he did indeed mean to say that Woods should embrace the Christian faith.

According to Politico's Michael Calderone, Hume reiterated his belief that "Jesus Christ offers Tiger Woods something that Tiger Woods badly needs."

Hume is reportedly a devout Christian whose faith deepened after his son committed suicide in 1998. He told Calderone last year that he hoped to spend more time studying the Bible after stepping down from the anchor desk. So far, Fox has made no comment about Hume's remarks.

MSNBC's David Shuster responded to the O'Reilly segment on his Twitter feed Monday night, saying it "left no doubt he intended to proselytize with his comments about Tiger Woods. Truly embarrassing."