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A UMNS Report
By Heather Hahn*
1:00 P.M. EDT June 14, 2011
U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner represents New York’s 9th Congressional District.
Photo courtesy of Rep. Anthony Weiner.
It’s a story at least as old as the Old Testament. A king spies a
fetching woman from his palace roof and decides he must have her —
whatever the cost.
Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, D-N.Y., moved political licentiousness into
the Twitter era with lewd messages and photos he sent to women he met
online.
Just as King David’s affair with Bathsheba had consequences for the
people of Israel, Weiner’s online behavior and the sexual improprieties
of other U.S. public officials can have an impact on the nation’s
business.
An elected leader’s adultery for that reason should be a matter of
national concern, said the Rev. Miguel A. De La Torre, a professor of
social ethics at United Methodist-related Iliff School of Theology.
De La Torre and others who study these issues used the term “adultery”
when discussing Weiner’s behavior. They said adultery is not defined
strictly as a physical act.
“People always raise the question: Does their private sexual life
influence their ability to govern and manage?” said De La Torre, an
ordained Baptist minister. “And the answer is 'no.' They can govern and
have a very bad personal sexual life. But they can also govern in an
effective manner and be a murderer.”
The bottom line, he says, is that when politicians cheat, they often
aren’t just being unfaithful to their spouses. They are abusing their
power.
Weiner, for example, was making unsolicited advances toward women who might have been interested in his policy views, not a personal relationship.
When first questioned publicly about the messages sent from his
online account, he indicated his account had been hacked. After more
than a week of questioning, he admitted he had sent the messages.
His behavior “shows disrespect for himself and women,” said Linda Bales Todd, who advocates women’s concerns for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
Bales Todd also sees his online exchanges as indicative of a larger
issue in church and society. “That is how we raise boys,” she said, “and
the need to teach them to respect themselves and women and not regard
women as sexual objects.”
De La Torre agrees.
“We need to really shine a spotlight on this,” he said, “so men can learn not to abuse their power.”
John Edwards served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina and was a
candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.
Photo by Mike Murphy, Wikimedia.
Issue for Democrats and Republicans
Weiner is only one of a recent spate of politicians of both major parties caught behaving badly.
John Ensign, a Republican, resigned from his U.S. Senate seat in May amid an ongoing ethics investigation into his handling of an affair with a staff member.
Later that month, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, admitted to having a child more than a decade ago with a member of his household staff.
John Edwards, a former U.S. senator and twice a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is facing charges of violating campaign-finance law to conceal his mistress. Edwards — a United Methodist — has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges but has admitted his infidelity.
In each of these situations, the politicians had extramarital affairs with their subordinates.
“Thirty or 40 years ago, none of this would be news,” De La Torre
said. “This would just be ignored as boys being boys. I’m glad this is
getting this type of media attention for no other reason than to raise
the consciousness that this is unacceptable behavior.”
Issue for the church
United Methodist leaders says church members also can learn from the
misdeeds of public officials, especially from Weiner’s online behavior.
“I think those who are becoming ministers or will occupy positions of
power in their congregations, they can easily fall into the same trap
that Weiner fell into,” De La Torre said.
The Rev. Rob Vaughn, pastor of Community of Faith United Methodist
Church in Herndon, Va., a Washington suburb, coordinates the
sexual-ethics response team in the Virginia Annual (regional) Conference. He fully expects to bring up the Weiner situation in his next training session.
Arnold Schwarzenegger served as governor of California from 2003 to 2011. Photo by Nate Mandos, Flickr, Creative Commons.
About 60 percent of the conference’s sexual-ethics curriculum now
deals with electronic communication, Vaughn said, and Weiner’s situation
is a great reminder that nothing online is ever truly private.
“Whatever you put online is public, and it will come back to haunt you,” Vaughn said.
The congressman’s experience also illustrates that infidelity involves more than just a sexual act.
“Adultery isn’t always physical; it’s where you give your heart,”
Vaughn said. “Often we’ve discussed the difficulty of online pornography
and the seductive way that brings folks into inappropriate
relationships and unhealthy behavior. There is a whole lot more beyond
that.”
The United Methodist Church has long called for responsible stewardship of God’s gift of sexuality and the eradication of sexual harassment. But, church leaders haven’t always upheld these ideals, said Garlinda Burton, the top executive of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women. She said Weiner’s misbehavior brings into sharp relief the temptations of leadership.
“I think power without a sense of duty and a sense of responsibility
is a very dangerous thing,” she said. “Whenever you have an abuse of
power, people get hurt.”
Hope for sinners
The Bible contains many stories of the consequences of abusive leaders.
Vaughn points to the example of King David. The monarch’s behavior
cost not only the life of Uriah, Bathsheba’s honorable husband, but also
precipitated civil war. In addition, the account in 2 Samuel gives no
indication that Bathsheba herself was a willing participant in the
affair. She simply came to the king when he beckoned.
Still, God did not abandon the errant king. David and Bathsheba’s lineage ultimately included Jesus, the savior of all.
“God can use even people who have done things that are horrible,” Vaughn said.
The pastor counsels sex addicts as part of his work, and he says they
carry much shame. Many recovering addicts, he said, ask, “Am I OK
before God?”
“You still live with the consequences of your behavior,” Vaughn said.
“And some of those consequences are lifelong. But it doesn’t mean life
is over. It’s not the last word. God has the last word.”
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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