Tiger Woods and the modern moral malaise

It took just days for Tiger Woods to suffer the biggest fall in living memory. From rooster to feather duster in record time. Between November 12^th and 15^th 100,000 fans packed Melbourne’s Kingston Heath golf course to follow one man, the man named Tiger, as he won the Australian Masters. Thousands more turned up just to see him practice. He led the TV news and the papers had him front & back. You could not get any bigger, but as we were about to find out, you could certainly get smaller. And he did.

On November 27th, there are reports Tiger was injured in a car accident near his Florida home after colliding with a fire hydrant and a tree. Alcohol was not involved and he was treated for minor facial wounds at hospital. And then it gets weird.

Tiger won’t speak to the Police, he refuses to appear at his own golf tournament and lawyers begin making bland statements on his behalf. Tigers is given a minor fine for a traffic violation, but still there is no sign of him. 

On December 2^nd US Weekly runs an interview with a woman named Jaimee Grubbs (truth is stranger than fiction!) who claims she had a two and a half year affair with the golfer. Woods responds on his website saying, "I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”   

At this point the worldwide media goes into overdrive. And it seems the more they dig the more is found. Woman after woman comes forward echoing Grubbs’ claims. Are they just cashing in? Could this be true?

The details of Woods’ life has been examined in embarrassing detail. It’s the train wreck syndrome. We are both disgusted and fascinated at the same time. How deep does this story go? No one I know of saves text messages, but these women do and now they are repeated for all to read. None of them make it any better for Tiger. 

At last count 11 women have come forward with similar stories of long lasting, sordid trysts with the golfer in any number of up market or sleazy environments. One encounter, allegedly held in a Church car park, was vide taped by a leading American tabloid. No doubt that will find its way onto the world wide web some day soon. 

And then there were the jokes. You have to marvel at how quickly these did the rounds. The wittiest was the one about Tiger being able to drive a Titleist (ie a brand of golf ball) 400 years without hitting  a tree, but not a Cadillac. The headlines were just as clever. “Tiger records Sextuple bogey” read one. “Tiger should have used the Driver” said another. And now you can play the video game and that is not the only one out there. 

Porn stars, waitresses, car parks, hurled golf clubs, sponsors, hush money, lurid photos, car crashes. All this for the man who, in the most incredible irony, is the poster boy for Nike whose slogan is “Just Do It”.

Tiger’s admission

Most of this was curious rumour and allegation until December 11^th when Woods released a statement on his own website admitting guilt and using the word “infidelity” for the first time. 

I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children. I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try.

Now he’s sorry? It seems a bit hard to believe. Sorry that he’s been busted, yes. Sorry that his reputation is shredded, of course. Sorry that he’s losing a sponsor per day, naturally. But sorry in the sense that he put a stop to this himself and repented despite the personal cost? That’s a big pill to swallow. 

Modern Morals

To see Tiger Woods go from being our most loved sportsman to the most maligned in about a fortnight reveals what a pathetic moral compass we have in our society.  

The money Tiger Woods has made from golf is obscene, yet we figure people are obviously willing to pay it, so good luck to him. When it comes to the income of sportsmen, we never seem to say “enough is enough” like we do with bankers or politicians. We actually admire it with a touch of envy. 

On the other hand, when the truth about a celebrity like Woods is finally exposed and it turns out they are not squeaky clean, we react in horror that their standards were not higher. But we never quite define what those standards are. 

And what about the women at the centre of these allegations? How is it only Tiger Woods seems to get bad press out of all this? These women have knowingly and deliberately sought to pollute a marriage, something God says is sanctified before him. Do we simply accept there will be women like this who throw themselves at weak men everywhere and then shake our heads when one succeeds? The behaviour of these women is an offence before God. There is only one Tiger, but there are ten times as many women involved. 

The Tiger Woods scandal (no doubt it will be called ‘Tigergate’ soon enough) is not really new, but merely the latest of many similar scandals we have witnessed in recent times. What makes this one stand out is its breadth and the lofty height from which Woods has fallen so quickly.

 What’s the problem?

So let’s define it. What has Tiger done wrong here (in the view of the world)? Having ten partners is a lot, but not more than many people I know who live on the wild side (remembering the encounters go back over five years). We don’t hammer them for having, say, two sexual partners per year over five years. 

Perhaps being married makes it all different. We feel sorry for his wife  & children and can understand why she might take to him with a nine iron. It seems he cheated on her for their entire married life. Obviously the world still wants to uphold the sanctity of marriage. 

But we are a long way from honouring God’s intentions. The fact is in today’s world, Tiger’s whole problem could be fixed by him getting a divorce and living the single life again. The way we operate today, he is not committing any offence as long as he is single. He doesn’t even need to be divorced, just separated and officially so. 

This same discussion was held on the TV talk shows of Australia when similar incidents were discovered in the life of Shane Warne, one of the country’s most famous cricketers. As soon as it became clear he and his wife were separated, it was considered OK for Warne to get back to his adulterous ways. He was “one of the boys” again.

Our moral compass is spinning in all directions. It was never God’s intention for men to have 10 wives, partners or one night stands. It’s not even OK for him to think about it, but this is not society’s standard. We have a “look but don’t touch” motto. God tells us not even to look because eventually you will touch. 

We now have the view that provided someone like Woods is not attached to anyone, he can pretty much have a different partner everyday and, provided he officially ends each liaison, he’s not doing anything wrong. Even if he has 365 per year for 10 years on the tour, we might at best think he’s excessive, but most likely we would admire him again. He might even pick up a few sponsors.

In the beginning

Surely someone needs to shout loudly the words of Jesus to the Pharisees who came to test him on this very subject.

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"  "Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? (Matthew 19:3-5)

If Tiger Woods’ wife does indeed stay with him, it will be due to her capacity at forgiveness, not because he deserves it. Woods has forced her to join flesh with other women, something no wife should have to endure. 

Worst of all, Christians know that unless the core issue of sin is dealt with, Woods will not change. He has tasted the forbidden fruit and these have a habit of getting their hooks into you. Woods will no doubt be as contrite as his press agent demands, but simmering just below the surface will be the same urges which, up until now at least, have been satisfied on demand.

I genuinely feel sorry for Tiger Woods, despite what he has done. He has an enormous battle on his hands and his every move will be reported in excruciating detail for some time to come. He obviously has a lust problem and until he begs forgiveness from God and accepts Jesus as his saviour, it will continue to call loudly to him while he acts out the part of a reformed husband. 

I only hope that amongst the hordes of minders, accountants, lawyers and sportsmen who surround him, there is one who will point him in the direction of the only one who can save him from himself.

Tiger Woods made his name sending a golf ball down a straight, narrow way. Our prayer is that he might do the same with his life.