Take for example, the Tiger Woods affairs, where his infidelity to his beautiful blonde Swedish wife has inspired a media frenzy out of proportion to the crimes he is purported to have committed.
I’m not saying Woods is blameless, just that he is human, and that he doesn’t deserve to be vilified along with mass murderers Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler.
As sport’s first billionaire, superstar golfer Tiger is a tall poppy who towers above all the others the media make a habit of cutting down after eulogising their sporting feats.
Ever since Eve tempted Adam with an apple, man has fallen to the wiles and beauty of women, although it is also true that women have been victimised by cruel and calculating males.
Woods’ biggest “sin” is not so much that he proved humanly fallible, but that he was portrayed by his wealthy sponsors as being perfect in every way.
The only man to achieve that – Jesus Christ – was crucified. But not before he saved a woman being stoned to death for committing adultery by telling her would-be persecutors, “let he who has not sinned cast the first stone”.
Thus it seems appropriate that on Friday, 2009 years after Jesus’ death, Christians throughout the world celebrate his birth in the belief he was the Son of God and the saviour who died for our sins.
It was Jesus who told the parable of the Prodigal Son, who after living a sinful life in the city, was welcomed back to his loving father’s arms and given a fattened calf to feast upon.
That story and that of Christianity is based on God’s eternal love and forgiveness for our frequent trespasses. It offers solace to poor people who know the Christmas story didn’t start in a king’s palace, but a humble stable in Bethlehem.
It also offers hope to rich, fallen sporting stars such as Tiger Woods – and those hypocrites who throw stones at him, even though they also live in Glasshouse Street.
Perhaps the real lesson here is for us not to expect perfection from people beyond their field of expertise, be it sport, politics, acting, music, art or academia.
Applaud them for their talent by all means. But recognise that beyond that they are fallible humans, who fall far short of the perfect image projected by greedy spin doctors, who worship at the altar of the golden calf.
One of the tragedies of modern sport is that its champions are being paid far in excess of their actual worth due to the multiple exposure offered by television.
One needs to just take a look at the moronic off the field acts committed by so many Australian rugby league players this year to realise they don’t have the maturity to control the cash and booze their sports fame generates.
