Tiger Woods

Mercy for Tiger Woods came from a seemingly unlikely source this week, coming from the mouth of Rosie O'Donnell. Too often O'Donnell has seemed angry, biter, and unforgiving- especially towards conservatives and Christians. But this time she displayed tremendous forgiveness and grace, saying she feels sorry for Tiger, and that "we all have our inner demons to battle". She also noted that she was one of the few peoples she knows that feels bad for him.

Mel Gibson has also come out and said he feels bad for Tiger. He, much like Rosie, said that "we all have our flaws", and felt sorry that the media is" beating the hell out of him". Whoopi Goldberg has also made similar statements.

Perhaps their sympathy is because they have all have felt the pressure that is put on them, created by the media and the public, and because they have both publicly struggled with their own inner demons and seen first-hand the nastiness of the media.

I saw a clip with Joy Behar and several of her hosts lambasting these statements O'Donell and Gibson made, with one guest even saying she wants to break [Mel Gibson's) heart, and followed it up by saying that he simply wants sympathy from the public for his flaws, and lampooned that they could "talk all night about [Mel's Gibson's] flaws". Meanwhile, Kirstie Alley got into a nasty Twitter fued with Behar, complaining that she (paraphrasing) "wanted to hurt Joy Bewhore". It's a shame in spite of this terrible situation it has to lead to more hate and anger. Instead of people looking at themselves and their own flaws, they use these time to feel better, at others' expense.

I can expect this self-righteous attitude from the media. The media has built up many of these celebrities as larger-than-life, as some sort of gods, setting them up for controversy and scandal, and then blowing the story up when they make a mistake. They love scandals like this. It means good ratings. The media and many people seem to forget that these celebrities, or anybody in the limelight, is NOT God, and has their issues, just like anyone and everyone else. Rosie O'Donnell, Mel Gibson, and Whoppi Goldberg were absolutely right on. It does no good for all the pundits to put on a facade and act like they're perfect. This is a classic case when it is important for Christians to remember Matthew 7:3-5, which says, " Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your own eye, when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hyprocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. I very much applaud all three for the statements they made, especially in light of the heat they have taken for it.

For Christians, it is very important that we don't laugh at Tiger Woods to make ourselves feel better, at his expense. It is crucial that he is not the butt of a joke. We should be humble and realize that any of us call fall under the influence of our own temptations. Christians should the first to show mercy and forgiveness to him and others in his situation, not offering their laughs or judgement, but their prayers. For, as John 13:35 says, they will know us by our love.