While I do not condone the hacking of a business website–it is wrong and criminal–I am appreciative of the what has happened since the publication of Ashley Madison data. Call it a silver-lining:
1. Victims of deception and cheating became empowered by knowledge.
I am not of the camp that considers the cheaters victims in this scenario. They knowingly engaged in behavior they paid to cover so that their spouse would never know. In other words, they knew it was wrong but thought they could get away with such treachery by paying a third party.
“…be sure your sin will find you out”
…as the Biblical saying goes (Numbers 32:23b, NKJV).
With the knowledge of the adultery-facilitating site use, faithful spouses can make informed decisions about the fate of their marriage. Plus, they are able to make sense of behavior that has likely left them puzzled for a while. While painful, knowledge of the cheating can help a faithful spouse feel less crazy.
Another thing this knowledge does for faithful spouses is it starts the grieving process as it gives clarity to what was broken and lost. Like viewing a dead body, the evidence helps in grieving what was killed–i.e. the innocent marriage. Whether the decision is to rebuild from the ashes or start over again through a divorce knowing the innocent marriage was killed through infidelity is an important step either way.
2. Adultery became a hip subject to discuss in the media, blog-o-sphere, and the church.
Adultery and infidelity are unpleasant topics to discuss. They expose the wicked heart of “man.” Plus, they highlight our vulnerability to such destruction. So, it is usually the case adultery is not discussed. This is true even in the church, which has a book–i.e. Bible–full of teachings on the matter!
The adultery facilitating website’s hack and exposure of cheaters’ information has made talking about adultery and infidelity important. It is newsworthy.
I think adultery and its devastation were newsworthy even before the Ashley Madison hack and leak. However, I am thankful such matters are being scrutinized and publicized now.
Maybe this whole news cycle will awaken our churches, pastors, and congregants to the realities of sin in this world and the need to be prepared to address them?
One can hope…
Well, those are just two major redemptive fruits I see coming out of this awful mess.
But with any situation where infidelity is present, nothing is as good as it could have been without the destructive, evil sin.
