Illegal love's in the air welcome to cheat harmony and other social networks where Christians cheat?

Do Christians really cheat?

Welcome to cheat harmony. It's that time of the year according to several cheating dating services.

 

Summer. Personally, for me, it is by far the best time of the year. Summer brings warm thoughts of water fun, pool parties, family picnics, movies at the drive in, strolls around the neighborhood with the family dog, day dreams of the ocean; Frisco's South beach, Long beach, Huntington beach, any Pacific beach really, but I'll settle for Monkey Island this summer, Grand Lake. 

 

We can not forget summer love, the perfect time of the year for lovers. Young couples who meet and fall in love over spring flowers, married couples who get revitalized with a fresh sense of romance, and husbands and wives cheating on their spouses over social networks created for those who want to cheat? Sounds insane to me and many other married couples, but a few social networks say it is becoming a trend. Not to be confused with legit services like e-harmony, or Match.com, who seems to have a pretty good reputation for hooking up singles. 'Singles' being the key word here. 

 

While doing research for an article about what husbands do to be romantic, I came across a Goggle add reading: "Cheat of your wife. Search married personals for women looking to cheat also."  Being caught off guard by the ad, I had to see if it was a real ad, or if, once clicked on, sent you to a marriage counselor. I told my wife, before I proceeded further with it (because I am no rookie). 

 

*A note for the readers - The journalist in me says, "Where's the links so people can follow up on your facts?" but the Christian, and well, passionate husband and father in me says, "Leave them out, I'm not going to be some silly spouses excuse for 'checking it out and getting sucked in'. So I decided to go with the later. You want to look the networks up, go right on ahead. 

 

One agency promotes itself as having quality profiles of lonely wives, cheating husbands, couples looking to spice up their marriage, and those married and looking to satisfy their curiosity. In it's welcome information page, it says, "Join the millions of men and women married but looking for something more on the side, or simply attached but seeking more. (Source: More Agency) 

 

Believe it or not there are several social networks out there, like the More Agency, who claims to be founded to connect 'like-minded lonely wives and husbands' who understand that sometimes, marriage is not everything they expected it to be. 

 

I sent an e-mail to a few of these social networks asking about how many married people using their service claim to be Christian? Only one of the four I e-mailed, sent me an answer back.The e-mail read: "It is hard to give a real estimate because we only have an estimation based off of the question concerning religious affiliation. According to that question around 90%, fill in Christian on the profile." 

 

It's hard to say that 90% of a million members (for that network) is an accurate number, and most Christians I asked about the number had a hard time believing it. Most Christians had the same response, "Christians don't cheat".  But doing a quick online search and you'll find many Christian spouses complaining, venting, or asking for advice about their cheating spouse, who also claims to be Christian. 

 

I found one Christian woman who went on line to talk about what she did, looking for advice, and wanting to know if their were other cheating Christian women out their. "I never thought in a million years I would cheat, but moving to a new town, a new job, and someone flirting with me in a very difficult time in my life, I found that I craved the attention, and really enjoyed excitement again." (Yahoo Answers: Do Christian Married Women Cheat?)

 

"...Christians sometimes cheat on their spouses, just like sometimes we lie and horde and sadden God in 1,000 other ways. And Karen is wrong because adultery is about more--and sometimes less--than sex." (Source:The Flesh is Weak)

 

 

I found several internet social networks and chat rooms dealing with just this topic. Many times it seems to be a the wife, using a made up name, asking for help and advice for what they should do with their husband who has cheated on them. The advice that they get in return is anywhere from: "Divorce them", "Forgive them", "Cheat on them and let them feel how you do"," deal with it, because it just happens" to "Cut that organ off, and see if they ever think about another woman!"  

 

It is clear that cheating is a problem, outside and inside the Church house. I personally, know of six 'Christian' men who cheated on their wives, and four preachers. It is dangerous, and a situation that changes lives forever. Cheating hurts everyone that has been cheated on, regardless of their personal faith or beliefs. Although cheating is wrong for everyone it is especially wrong for Christians whose very name means 'from Christ', Christ-like', and 'in Christ'.

 

Although I am going to focus more on this next week, I would like to point you towards a great blog I found from Christian Thoughts, called How Not To Cheat. This life coach has written a great blog with a list of rules, or boundaries for couples that is designed to create practical steps to help make sure you never get in a cheating-possible situation.

 

With this article I really wanted to get you thinking about it, and bring the issues into the light a little, next week I am going to dive into this topic more and deal with the questions: 

 

 

If you have a comment, advice, suggestion, or can relate to this article I want to hear from you. So e-mail me at sam@SamTheWriter.com 

 

Samuel Connelly

Wichita's Christian Faith & Culture Examiner