Tiger Woods a reflection of your morality

Tiger Woods' current infidelity problems-(the current rumor I have heard is that shortly after his wife's discovery of his sex-texts and subsequent confrontation-she hit him in the face with the club she later took to his car.  Tiger then drove away-crashed-went to hospital-then needed plastic surgery and ended up in a upscale clinic in Phoenix-and that is why he dropped out of golf, he needed time to heal-true or not true I do not know)-seem to pop up in the conversations at work during lunch at least once a break of the midday fast.

One of the common themes is a observation that notes that if you were in Tiger's position (Rich, young, famous) you would have made the same decisions Tiger made, if not whored to even a greater extent than he.

While I have to make two caveats.  The first is I have never been in Tigers position so I really do not know what it is like and second, I have a basic understanding of how difficult it would be holding back when everyone and anyone is throwing themselves at you.

That said I find it interesting that the above observation is not really statement of incite into Tiger Woods current situation but rather a brief manifesto of your own personal morality.  What they are really saying is I could not stay faithful to my wife/husband if sex was always available.   There have been a few of my friends that have championed the opposite view that Tiger's conduct was revolting are the men and women that have a higher moral standing.

It is not to say that the moral proponents would not fail when tempted but sexual immorality is a choice not a forgone conclusion.  You can and should resist-adding women and men in between your marriage partner and yourself.  You can say no and if you could not believe Tiger could ever be able to say no when he was in his position maybe you should stop thinking about Tiger's moral conduct and refocus on your own.


Hebrews 13:4

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Rigid Morality

One of the constant knocks against Christians in the media and in our society in general is our perceived rigid morality.  Since the standard is a sinless Christ and our guidebook is the Bible, rather than a standard we make up ourselves, our morality and thus, ideally (we all are still sinful creatures and fall down a lot), our ethical behavior by necessity is rigid.  The world can not understand how a Christian can condemn the action but still love and support the actor.  The goal is salvation not condemnation, that is the role of a righteous God at the end of time.  Christian moral absolutes force any Christian to abstain from and prevent violence against another regardless of their proclivities, politics and belief systems.  Evil is still evil if an action is carried out against another and creates a victim.  If the action is evil and the attempt to justify is a bastardization of the Bible's verses, that person is not a Christian but rather evil trying to hide behind a cheap justification.  The New Testament is the blueprint for a Christians proper moral conduct, set in time and place and without regard to the whims of society.


The world wants a sliding ethical system without judgement or the impediment of action of others.  The best current example of this is the reaction to the recent Roman Polanski arrest.  Here are some quotes "As a Swiss filmmaker, I feel deeply ashamed," Christian Frei said.  "He's a brilliant guy, and he made a little mistake 32 years ago. What a shame for Switzerland," said photographer Otto Weisser, a friend of Polanski.  "The list of supporters giving Polanski their impassioned support read like a Who's Who of the cream of the movie-making world. It included, among many others, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Harvey Weinstein, Pedro Almodóvar and Ethan Coen".  The cream of the movie world throwing their support to a self admitted child rapist.  


Here is a brief description of what happened from wikipedia.

Sex crime conviction

In 1977, Polanski, then aged 44, became embroiled in a scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Samantha Geimer). It ultimately led to Polanski's guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

According to Geimer, Polanski asked Geimer's mother if he could photograph the girl for the French edition of Vogue, which Polanski had been invited to guest-edit. Her mother allowed a private photo shoot. According to Geimer in a 2003 interview, "Everything was going fine; then he asked me to change, well, in front of him." She added, "It didn't feel right, and I didn't want to go back to the second shoot."

Geimer later agreed to a second session, which took place on March 10, 1977 at the home of actor Jack Nicholson in the Mulholland area of Los Angeles. "We did photos with me drinking champagne," Geimer says. "Toward the end it got a little scary, and I realized he had other intentions and I knew I was not where I should be. I just didn't quite know how to get myself out of there." She recalled in a 2003 interview that she began to feel uncomfortable after he asked her to lie down on a bed, and how she attempted to resist. "I said, 'No, no. I don't want to go in there. No, I don't want to do this. No!', and then I didn't know what else to do," she stated, adding: "We were alone and I didn’t know what else would happen if I made a scene. So I was just scared, and after giving some resistance, I figured well, I guess I’ll get to come home after this".

Geimer testified that Polanski gave her a combination of champagne and quaaludes, a sedative drug, and "despite her protests, he performed oral sex, intercourse and sodomy on her", each time after being told 'no' and being asked to stop.

Charges and guilty plea

Polanski was initially charged with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor. These charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain, and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, according to the documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, the court ordered Polanski to report to a state prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation, but granted a stay of ninety days to allow him to complete his current project. Under the terms set by the court, he was permitted to travel abroad. Polanski returned to California and reported to Chino State Prison for the evaluation period, and was released after 42 days. All parties expected Polanski to get only probation at the subsequent sentencing hearing, but after an alleged conversation with LA Deputy District Attorney David Wells, the judge "suggested to Polanski's attorneys that he would send the director to prison and order him deported". In response to the threat of imprisonment, Polanski fled the United States.


Bottom line-some of reasoning I have heard to support him are: the victim does not want him jailed (she now admits he paid her), the crime was a long time ago, there were procedural errors in the case (did not keep him from seeking a plea agreement and then fleeing) and he is great artist and director.

This is what situational ethics gives you.  Christian-child rape is always wrong-whether it is done by the dirty homeless man under the bridge or the greatest man who ever lived (not to soil the reputation of that Dos Equis man).  Situational ethics-well it was a long time ago and he is a great artist lets look the other way.

The reason that Polanski's victim can not call off the case is all victims are represented by either the state of the federal government.  The thought behind this is once a victim is created all of us in society are likewise victimized.

Christian's want justice done, the world wants Roman to escape justice because its not that bad and it wasn't my daughter.  The world does not get sick to their stomach like they should when they consider his actions.

Rigidity looks a lot better doesn't it.

James 1:21

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.