Straight From the "Tiger's" Mouth

I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology. - Tiger Woods

Apparently, Tiger Woods has been "thinking with the wrong club." In a statement on his website today, he apologizes to his family and his fans. Fans and observers alike heard the rumors and were piecing it together somewhat. Of course, the tabloids were running wild and speculation was rampant. In this day of media malpractice and general gossip that is both the cause of and effect from the decline of our society, it's always best that we wait until the individual who is the subject comes forward and explains it directly to us, unfiltered.

Since the beginning of time there has always been immorality. It's human nature to be weak. This is not an excuse, but a premise that if misunderstood will only lead us into more immorality.

Solutions to problems cannot be found until you have actually diagnosed the problem. The problem is not that humans are weak, it's that humans don't recognize they're weak or even worse, they ignore it after becoming caught up in wealth and fame.

John Edwards explained that his "ego blew up because of the attention he was getting and that he became 'egocentric and narcissistic' - and he lied about it to people." Mark Sanford said "This was selfishness on my part."

Recognizing that we are weak, egocentric and selfish people should come before the transgressions. But, for many, this recognition only comes afterwards. We humans tend to not think long term enough. We go with the flow and live for the moment without taking a look at the bigger picture and understanding in advance where the land mines are. Many times, the land mines look like gold or a beautiful woman. When we touch it, it doesn't explode right away, but it eventually explodes.

As "super" humans, we think that we can justify lust and greed or even worse, ignore it. We arrogantly think we can eliminate these sins from the world or from our lives. But the reality is, these are sins that will be with us until the end of time. Only God can forgive these, and it is only through God that these sins will be destroyed on the judgment day.

Until then, we are existentially condemned to dealing with these issues. Like Sisyphus, we must roll the rock up the hill, fight the temptations and deal with the societal fact that these sins will never go away.

So how do we handle them?

Very simply put, we recognize the nature of them and apply one simple rule: do unto others as you would have done unto you. There is nothing wrong with making money and there is nothing wrong with having sex. It's how we do it. There is a right way and there is a wrong way.

We need to recognize that marriage is a sacred vow between one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation and raising a family in the proper moral setting. Gay rights proponents miss this point a lot, but athletes, musicians and politicians miss it in a different way. It is not an ideal lifestyle to have casual affairs. But if you are going to do that, DON'T GET MARRIED.

Derek Jeter recognizes this. He spoke with Gretchen Carlsen of Fox News today. As a single man, and an athlete who has women throwing themselves at him, he has managed to live his life in such a way so that his relationships are private and not the fodder for tabloid exploitation (although they do get stories out about him from time to time). Here's where Derek Jeter is right and where society is wrong. Whatever lifestyle you choose to lead, it's your personal responsibility not to flaunt it and it should be the media's responsibility not to exploit it.

He recognizes that his profession keeps him on the road a lot. It may be possible that he feels he could not uphold the responsibility that comes with marriage both time wise and possibly even fidelity-wise. As such, he recognizes this and avoids what happens to people like Tiger Woods, John Edwards and Mark Sanford by staying single and conducting his affairs in private, away from the glamorization of the media.

While Derek Jeter, as he admitted to Carlsen, is not perfect and screws up, he has had the foresight to not put himself in a position to hurt a wife or kids. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, has put himself in that position. It is not ours to judge. But, we all know the real problem is that Tiger did wrong by his wife and family. It's only up to him to reconcile that.

We can't help Tiger right now. But he can help us. How? By making us think about what happened. Sometimes learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do. Tiger learned the hard way. Let's hope our athletes, musicians and politicians take what happened to him as a warning and learn from it before it's too late.