Infidelity: Forgive? Yes. Stick Around? F$%& No!

Recently, former Presidential candidate hopeful John Edwards came out and admitted to cheating on his wife, Elizabeth, almost two years ago with a person who, ironically enough, was helping with his campaign. 

As if the cheating part wasn’t bad enough, Mr. Edwards did it at a time when his wife was dealing with cancer.  Apparently all that kemotherapy must have left her feeling not-too-frisky - good thing his camera lady was around to help out in the sexual favor department!

I wasn’t going to write anything on this subject - after all, politians cheating on their wives isn’t really anything new - but then I saw Mrs. Edwards on the cover of PEOPLE magazine. In the article, they quote friends as saying that when John told her what he had done, it was humiliating - of course - but that, since they had been married for 30 years, she decided to stay and work it out, rather than leave him, mess up his campaign, and possibly ruin the lives of their children.

Aww, doesn’t that sound sweet?  Isn’t it great that she’s able to look past his cheating ways and stick it out with him?

Well, if it were somebody else writing this post, the answer would probably be “yes.” As for me, I’d have left the sorry bastard on the footsteps of the house right after I slapped his sorry face and kicked him out the door with my size 11 Adidas’!

Let me make something perfectly clear: I am all for forgiveness.  I grew up in the church where I was taught to forgive others for their sins, and would have no problem doing so.

HOWEVER…

If I’m married to a woman who suddenly decides she just has to lie with another man to get her proverbial “rocks” off (or whatever the correct term is for when a woman gets a strong feeling of sexual satisfaction), I don’t care HOW long I’ve been with her, be it 1, 6, 13 or 47 years - she’s OUT!

Now, someone may read this and think: “Hold on, Aaron!  That’s not fair!  You have to give her credit for thinking of the family, and…”

And why should I?  Heck, why should SHE, for that matter?  Was Mr. Edwards thinking about his family when his Lil’ Edwards was parking his car in the garage of another woman??  The whole “thinking of family” thing goes both ways, ya know!

Besides, why SHOULD I stay with a spouse who cheats on me?  A marriage is partially about being able to trust the person you’re with.  Once somebody goes out and cheats on you, that trust is broken. Gone. It’s a WRAP!

Think about how Mrs. Edwards has to live her life now: she’s dealing with cancer, has 2 kids to raise… and now, to add to it, every time her husband says to her, “I’ve got a meeting up on Capitol Hill today, honey,” she has to sit there and ponder if he’s REALLY going to a meeting, or to some other skanky tramp’s bordello to do the nasty!

Don’t think she’s not thinking that, people!

But she’s not the first woman (or man) to be placed in this situation.  People may see this and, like me, want her to leave him.  So why, then, do so many women stay after finding out their spouse has cheated?  When a woman has sex with a man, a chemical called “Oxycotin” is released that makes her feel extremely close to him, often to the point of clingyness.  The more times a couple has sex, the more this chemical gets released, making her become more and more close to the man.

Unfortunately, this also has a negative affect: when her man does something that’s stupid, harmful, or downright untrustworthy, the woman, having been bonded with this person, finds it extremely hard to rip that bond apart.  This is why women will lie, make up excuses, or often put up with a man’s crap - that dang Oxycotin got them so sprung off their man, they can’t spring themselves into the act of leaving him!

Some men have this problem, too, but for them it has more to do with self-esteem: they fear they won’t be able to get another woman if they leave the one that’s wronged them, and they don’t want to admit to friends and family that they made a poor decision in choosing a mate.  Rest assured, I have NO such problem with leaving any woman at the drop of a hat who would even DARE cheat on me, insult me, call me out of name, or anything else that proves their lack of respect for me. 

As for the Edwards’,  John should be ashamed of himself for cheating… but, in my opinion, Mrs. Edwards should be even MORE ashamed for sticking around!  I only hope her daughter doesn’t follow her example in the future - women should have more pride in themselves than that!

-Aaron P. Taylor