Do the Wicked Rule D.C.? What the Ashley Madison Dump Shows

A group of hackers breached the security of Ashley Madison, a website that exists to help married people have affairs. They discovered the names, addressed, GPS coordinates, e-mail addresses, and payment histories of the cheater social network’s normally discrete clientele.

Their find? At least 15,000 accounts belong to government officials. This comes from finding accounts using e-mail addresses from .gov or .mil domains. There are undoubtedly many other government officials who used a private e-mail account – something Hillary Clinton knows all about. (Infidelity, too, come to think of it.)

The hack exposed “some with sensitive jobs in the White House, Congress and law enforcement agencies,” including “workers at more than two dozen Obama administration agencies, including the departments of State, Defense, Justice, Energy, Treasury, Transportation and Homeland Security. Others came from House or Senate computer networks,” according to an investigation by the Associated Press.

According to Roll Call, the officials implicated in the data breach so far include:

• The office of GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

• The Capitol Police.

• Seven folks with ties to House offices.

• Nearly four dozen people who punch timecards at the White House.

The specifics confirm the thumbnail sketch released by the website three years ago, when it announced that the nation’s capital is the city with the greatest number of members.

This is threatening for numerous reasons.

If they used a work computer, it calls into question whether any classified material stored on it is or was safe.

Belonging to such a website opens these officials up to blackmail – something Defense Secretary Ash Carter mentioned while saying that investigators “absolutely” should be investigating.

But Christians know, beyond the physical realm, sin opens them to demonic influence. Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34).

The Apostle Paul also warned that habitual sin makes us “slaves” to sin and death – and the devil has the power of death. (See Romans 6:15 and Hebrews 2:14.)

The Ashley Madison data dump is just the most recent proof America is being ruled by those who reject, even trample on, Christian moral precepts. The nation’s capital has the highest percentage of homosexuals of any city in the nation (10 percent – about four to five times the national average). And more residents of the most powerful city in the world describe themselves as secular than as believers in any religion.

The penalties of continual sinfulness is not just for the politicians; they affect the American people they govern – or, really, whom they are supposed to serve. The Book of Proverbs says, “Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear Is a wicked ruler over a poor people” (28:15).

As Josh Duggar and Larry Craig found out, it’s impossible for anyone to be a good public servant, even if he believes all the “right” things, if he continually indulges his lower appetites and feeds the flesh, which “wars against the [Holy] Spirit.”

If your name is in that data dump, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that what was done in the darkness has been brought to the light, and your loved ones have been hurt. Relationships have been frayed, perhaps broken beyond repair.

The good news is…the good news. Life doesn’t have to be a continual game of hiding and seeking fleeting, furtive fulfillment in the dark with strangers. Real love is available, and real forgiveness.

Yes, you may have sinned – join the club. My former (and, sadly, current) sins may not be the same variety as yours, but they are equally harmful to myself and those around me. They hurt me the same way yours hurt you, because they prevent us from being what God created us to be – they keep us from living a loving relationship with other people and with Him.

The good news is that our relationship with God does not require our moral perfection before it can begin. Instead, God began it long ago, and “God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

You can begin a brand new life of wholeness and indescribable joy here. But the most important part of the recovery will begin here.