raising godzillas

Why elected official's affairs matter

In our church's 7th grade confirmation class, the students learn about David and Bathsheba , with the accompanying question, "Can your parents think of any Christian leaders who were caught in infidelity?"
Of course, this is an easy question to answer.
What seems harder to answer- as far as I can tell from the internet- is if it's the public's place to be all up in the bedrooms of it;s elected representatives. My thoughts? Yes, and no.
I don't claim to be or want to be the morality police. I do not believe we should legislate the sex lives of consenting adults. I support the legality of  gay marriage and polygamous marriage. I believe prostitution should be legal, regulated and taxed. Further, I in no way think it's my place to tell anyone they should limit sex to marriage or one partner (unless I gave birth to you). That runs into a whole question of separation of church and state.
So why do I think we have a right to question politicians who cheat on their spouses?
It's because marriage is a legal contract. If I agreed with a candidate's policies or voting record, I would vote for them if they were single and playing the field, or in an open marriage, or for that matter, divorced . But marriage is a legal contract.  It's not about whether the candidate can keep his or her pants on, but about the ability to honor a legal contract. If a person can't honor their legal contracts; marriage, business, or otherwise, I do not trust them to represent my interests in Olympia or Washington.

posted by gojirama @ 2:57 PM