Jon & Kate, Disappointing!

How can such a delightful family allow itself to dissolve into the mire of scandal? Jon and Kate present themselves as very religious with the deepest family values but now we find out they might both be having affairs???

Getting married should mean committing to one another for the rest of your lives or, at the very least, until you decide to separate or divorce. It certainly shouldn't mean that it's okay to have a little piece on the side. I know that some marriages function in this way but it goes against everything we hold sacred in a marriage.

My personal beliefs are very rigid. There is an intimacy between a married or committed couple that is diluted in it's intensity and purity if the intimacy is also shared with someone outside the marriage. It's a good reason for people to "sow their oats", so to speak, before entering the sanctity of marriage.

Not being a religious person, I don't carry my personal beliefs as a burden placed on me by the church. I live my life by following a course of logic and logic screams that you cannot strengthen a bond by splitting it into pieces. Ergo, if you can't entrust your life to your partner then you shouldn't be getting married. Many people can live their lives quite happily by never committing to one person and that's fine if they notify their potential partners up front. It's not necessarily going to make their lives run smoothly, though, because one might initially agree to the arrangement and then change their minds later on.

Infidelity can claw the human spirit to death. The pain it causes to the one cheated on is immense and it's so hard to understand how anyone could inflict it on someone they claim to love. I believe that infidelity is an act of selfishness, a momentary thrill taken with the chance it will be discovered and cause incredible agony to one's true partner. I guess taking that chance depends on the depth of love the sinner has for his/her loved one.

Going back to Jon and Kate. Have their possible infidelities brought them closer as a couple and strengthened their family? It sure doesn't look like it.