Last Updated on August 1, 2018
Over President’s Day weekend in February a new billboard ad popped up in our city on Interstate 30, which carries heavy local and cross-state traffic. Most billboards are rather innocuous, but this one offered a lethal dose of poison for any husband or wife naïve enough to fall for the ad’s charming quip.
Pictured high above the interstate and perfectly positioned to catch every eye was a photograph of three U.S. presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Arkansas’ own Bill Clinton, which may be why our town received this unwelcome gift. The text read simply: “Who said cheaters never prosper? Happy President’s Day!”
It’s embarrassing for our nation that these men had such low regard for their marriages and their wives. As a woman it makes me sad and angry that Ashley Madison, the website responsible for this ad, is lifting these men high as examples while also demeaning the wives and children they hurt. Even more, this ad is hurting all families with its invitation for spouses—husbands or wives—to join the cheating club.
The rejection and pain Hillary, Jackie and Eleanor suffered is not inconsequential. Having watched betrayal at work in marriages of close friends and in the stories we hear from thousands of others, I believe it is safe to say cheating is never worth it.
My own grandmother, who I loved dearly, was caught in this web. In a very small town, she was the object of another’s man’s affections, and she returned those affections in what I would call an “emotional affair.” It led to a divorce with my grandfather years later. My mother, now 88, vividly remembers the pain of that rejection, and I remember that during our annual visits we always divided our time in half between each grandparent. When I was a young mom of four, my grandmother told me it was the greatest mistake she ever made.
The word “cheating” makes the profound betrayal of an affair sound trivial, which is Ashley Madison’s goal. Only afterwards is the truth realized. And my guess is most of you have been near enough to this tragedy to know the fallout.
My hope is that you will join us as we stand against this kind of attack on marriages and families, and that you will push back against similarly divisive messages in your hometown, too. If you and I don’t take risks to counter those who aggressively seek to destroy marriages and families the already fragile stability of our nation will crumble further. It is our children’s future we must preserve.
Barbara Rainey is the Co-Founder of FamilyLife, the mother of six and a grandmother to 18 – she is also a mentor and friend to countless women in the United States online loans and abroad. She is a gifted communicator – and artist – who has created, and continues to create, resources that help parents and children connect and impress on their hearts the truth of God’s word. Barbara is the Titus 2 woman we all long to spend time learning from and will embolden you to spend time in the word and be a world changer, while prioritizing family – she will inspire and empower!
My siblings and I grew up in a household where the was clearly a fractured marriage and for whatever reason they didn’t divorce — it was hell plain and simple. I don’t advocate cheating on any level, but there is also a point where a family needs to take the steps to heal with honesty and commitment, but at some point if this isn’t agreed upon by both parties in a marriage it is time to move on so the family can begin some resemblance of wholeness. In a perfect world two people would love and honor one another til death do them part, but the world isn’t perfect.
Who is Ashley Madison? A divorce attorney?
Sadly Ash Mad is an organization that offers to set up an affair for a married person – in total confidentiality. Their tag line is “an affair to remember” … sickening. Shockingly the marriage enrichment event FamilyLife has hosted around the country/world for decades is A Weekend To Remember.
WHAT? There are *services* people can PAY to help them have an affair?!?! How twisted.
The Ashley Madison ads on Sirius radio are the reason we canceled our satellite radio service. And we tell them so every time they call to try to sign us up again.
Good article. I would like to suggest that calling the United States – America is very egotistical of our nation. I know everyone does it, even from other countries (I have noticed when speaking in English, not in French or Spanish). Please work with me to change people’s use of the word America. America refers to South America, Central America, and North America.