If you have been paying attention to the news at all over the past month, you will have seen at least one or two news stories about Presidential candidate (and almost Vice Presidential nominee) John Edwards and his affair with political videographer Rielle Hunter. It’s an unexpected, shocking story. When you consider that Edwards’s wife is suffering from terminal cancer, it becomes even more saddening that something like this could happen under such circumstances.
Once the story was validated, the media started buzzing…and why shouldn’t they be? Journalism is 25% news and 75% marketing. The more shocking the story, the more people want to buy the paper and read about what happened. I was thinking the other day about just what it was that made this story so shocking to begin with, and it made me think about some of the issues that are at the heart of the matter.
1: In our culture, how is it that sexual promiscuity is celebrated outside of marriage but is frowned upon inside of marriage? Which begs the question: How can society expect a man to go from woman to woman before marriage and then be satisfied with only one woman for the rest of his life? This seems to be at the very least paradoxical.
2: The very fact that adultery is a huge story in the newspapers points to the idea that there is a general sense of morality. C.S. Lewis notes in Mere Christianity that there is indeed a moral law that everyone is aware of. Some consider it to be a part of the General Revelation of God to the world, but I believe that an awareness of the Moral Law is the direct result of Adam and Eve’s biting into the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In effect, it is a result of the fall of man. Regardless of how it first appeared, it is unmistakable and evident.
3: When I thought about this story, I couldn’t help but recall the Biblical account of the woman caught in the act of adultery that is found in John 8. The media and many in the blogging world are quick to throw stones at Edwards and other public figures whose sins are made known. As fallen creatures who want to shift the blame to someone else, we are quick to point out the blemishes of others while ignoring our own mistakes. We should take this opportunity to truly examine ourselves and our lives, including our thoughts, hearts, and intentions. After all, in Matthew 5:28, it is written that Christ said “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” And that’s a hard pill to swallow.
