Intro via elephant editor Waylon Lewis:

Fox News—home of Brit Hume (“Tiger Woods should leave Buddhism for Christianity”) censors Tiger’s Buddhist remarks in Apology.

Naughty, Naughty Fox.

The above Buddhist section of Tiger Woods’ apology for his affairs was carried live by Fox News.

Here’s CNN’s unedited video of the apology.

Fox’s official version, however, saw all Tiger’s mentions of Buddhism deleted. This might be a coincidence—were Fox not the home of Brit Hume, who only weeks ago infamously remarked that Tiger ought to leave his Buddhist tradition for Christianity if he wanted to see himself forgiven, and in America’s good graces once more.

We were alerted to the discrepancy after I emailed my initial post re Tiger’s remarks to the Shambhala Buddhist community. And, credit where credit is due, Tyler Dewar, on twitter, was already on top of the story.

One heads up was particularly detailed…via my friend Ken:

Hi Waylon,
Tiger DID say those words on tv—Fox edited it out.  He spoke the “B” words at 11:11:58 Eastern Standard time (according to the tape log and my own ears). If you look at the upper left of the YouTube clip at 8:54 in, the clock jumps from 11:11 to 11:13…another reason not to watch Fox.  Anyway, I’m sending this only to you to correct.
Yours in the Vision of Truth Justice and the American Way, Way,
Ken

I can’t wait for Jon Stewart and/or Colbert to have fun with this latest blatant omission via Fox “News.”

Via our contributor John Pappas:

I don’t expect much from Fox News and I can completely accept when they take an obvious political or religious leaning.  Looking back at Brit Hume’s commentary on Tiger’s adultery, I can sit back and say “Well, it’s an opinion…and ignorant, insulting and blindingly stupid opinion…but still an opinion.”  And I can even respect Brit Hume for having the balls to air said opinion. I would have had even more respect for him if he came out afterward and admitted he was mistaken…but we can’t have everything.

However, with the current resurrection of the Tiger Woods debacle, Fox News has succeeded in completely misrepresenting Tiger’s own words by selectively editing the parts where Tiger talks about Buddhism completely out of the video they posted on YouTube.

This is news reporting? Taking what is a personal choice in spiritual path and just chucking it.  Well, Eff Man, if it ain’t Christian we ain’t reporting on it.  You take a medium such as YouTube with millions of hits daily, do a few minor edits and boom you have information for the masses that not only entertains and informs…but also lies. Lies of omission are still lies.

Or better yet, we can just skip it and pretend in never happen.  Right?  Bravo, Fox News, Bravo!  This way you can still cover a story and make sure it is twisted to your own religious value-set and dogmatic attachment.

Read the following transcript from the New York Times and then watch the video from the Fox News YouTube channel.  In the unedited video and in the transcript, Woods make remarks about  his reaffirmation to the Buddhist path.  Yet, in the edited video from Fox News, we have a miracle!  The Buddhism has gone away! Has it ascended into heaven?  Did the Lord God spirit it up into a higher realm?  Was it effing reincarnated into a garden slug?

Well, Fox News?  Where did the Buddhism go?  Are you so insecure in your own spiritual path that you can’t accept and report fairly on an affirmation that doesn’t deal with Christianity.  Sorry, everyone, but when a news agency edits an important part of a news piece (say Tiger Woods saying he is Buddhist) and then never mentions the edit, it smells of disinformation to me.

I mean there isn’t even a qualification on the video that states that it has been edited.  To me this is deceptive and exceedingly embarrassing—that in an enlightened society we are so scared that someone has a different belief than the majority.  If you don’t like what the news says, then feel free to edit the truth out.

How about a new slogan Fox News?

Fox News ~ Edited and Corrupted into Digestible Morsels for the Christian Majority