My thoughts on faith, books, and life in general
It’s been all over the news for the last few weeks, and watching the fall of Congressman Anthony Weiner has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion. There’s a lot that can be said (and most of it has been) about this situation, but I want to point out two lessons that everyone can learn from Weiner’s failures.
1) Tell the Truth
When word got out that (now former) Congressman Anthony Weiner had sent naked pictures of himself to some woman, it was a scandal. However, this issue has been drawn out over the course of several weeks now because of Weiner’s unwillingness to tell the truth. When inappropriate pictures appeared from his twitter account, he first said, “I didn’t put it up there” and proceeded to dodge the question of whether the pictures where of him.
From that time today, he has been the butt of any number of jokes and jabs, even getting heckled at his resignation speech. Some have argued that his career might have weathered this scandal, had he simply told the truth from the beginning. While it’s sad that our elected officials could get caught doing such things and continue to serve, it may be true. The fact is that the American people tend to be very forgiving, but they want to be told the truth. We have harsher condemnation for those who sin and lie about it than those who confess.
To hit a spiritual angle here: The Bible clearly teaches that we are to tell the truth, not lie. When we’re in a tough spot, sometimes it may seem easier to lie, but the truth is always best. In fact, the Bible teaches that God does not lie (Num 23:19), but that the Devil does (Jn 8:44), so when we lie we act like the Devil instead of like God.
2) Don’t send naked pictures
This should be a no-brainer, but the reason for the whole scandal was the fact that Weiner was sending naked pictures of himself to a woman (not his wife). For one thing, there’s a problem with sending people naked pictures of yourself. I imagine that Weiner rationalized that he was not cheating on his wife since there was no actual sex, though I also doubt his wife would agree. Newsflash: sexting other people is infidelity to your spouse. Each of us who takes those marriage vows promises to be faithful to our spouse (“…forsaking all others cleave only to thee…”). It’s good that Mr. Weiner is getting some time away with his wife. I hope they will be able to find some healing.
Here’s another point about sending explicit pictures: don’t. Ever. Even if you decide to send pictures to your spouse, you need to remember that there’s a network that those pictures go through. They will be stored on some server somewhere, and I can pretty much guarantee that someone else will see them at some time. Each of us must remember that nothing we put online or send via our electronic devices is ever 100% private. Keep the secrets of your bedroom between only you and your spouse. So, my recommendation on sending explicit pictures is this: just don’t.
Any other lessons from the Anthony Weiner disaster?
