Lots of people are talking about the hack of Ashley Madison on Reddit. They claim they're worried about their spouses finding out if they're on the list. Some men have even threatened suicide on Reddit, but when you read their postings you don't know if they're trolls trying to incite followers to build karma points or if they're actually telling the truth. Reddit is anonymous and most people use throwaway accounts. If you're seriously considering suicide, please call a suicide hotline immediately 1-800-273-8255.
Should people worry about being outed publicly about a membership to Ashley Madison or Adult Friend Finder? I say no, people should not worry about losing their marriages or losing their jobs. And no one should be threatening suicide or even joking about it due to the Ashley Madison leak.
Here's why.
Only two people have been outed for their memberships to Ashley Madison. Two. They're both high-profile Christians who have been in the news recently. And the reason I believe they were targeted was because of the hypocrisy of their beliefs. Well, guess what, Christian men cheat on their wives, too. Both emotionally and physically; lots of people cheat.
I read about both of those outings on Gawker.
One was the Josh Duggar story, which wasn't surprising.
The other one was Christian video blogger Sam Rader, who was originally outed by the Daily Mail in the UK. And Sam and Nia's latest video showing Sam's apology on YouTube has double the number of dislikes vs. the number of likes. The public is not impressed with his apology nor his membership to Ashley Madison.
So, that's it. Only two prominent Christians have been outed.
Is it an attack on Christianity? Will we see more Christians outed? Possibly, but I really don't know.
Celebrities, writers, politicians and other famous folks haven't been outed by name that I know of yet and I doubt there will be more names forth coming. In order to out someone, the media outlet would be acknowledging that they accessed the information which was illegally hacked. No mater what website anyone goes on, credit card information should be secure and private. Names, that's apparently another matter.
Online viral content has a notoriously short shelf life. No one cares anymore. I really think that's true. If you want to search your hubby's email, you can. But if he's on the list, what does that mean? There are rumors that 90% of the paying clientele was male and many of the female profiles were fake. So, essentially, if your spouse joined Ashley Madison he was most likely lonely or your marriage was already in trouble. And possibly, he never met anyone in person for a physical affair.
The Internet has changed everything. Emotional relationships are more available online than ever before. Cheating spouses and having affairs has the approval of a great majority of people worldwide. Morals have gone out the window and much more of this behavior is acceptable in today's world. Computer technology changed everything.
I checked emails. I found people on the list. But, so what? Only truly tech people have access to anything beyond emails because it would require downloading a huge data file and you would have to be able to understand that data file. In other words, you have to be very smart and savvy to access the information. Your computer would also be tied to accessing that illegally hacked information of credit cards and transactions. To me, this is exactly like the big Sony hack. Yes, people changed jobs after their emails were released, but the story has pretty much vanished from the landscape.
Do you care about the Sony hack today? Or are you more worried about finding a job to support your family?
There are bigger concerns in the world than the Ashley Madison hack, especially the economy. People are struggling to find full-time paid employment.
Maybe this entire hack will prevent people from having affairs or maybe it will have little effect at all. Only time will tell. But I doubt we will see any more high-profile names in the press. Readers have moved on.
To everyone who is worried about this hack or your name being released publicly, I would stop worrying and get on with your life. And the next time you think about cheating on your spouse or your significant other, think twice.
It's more than just two prominent Christians who were found on Ashley Madison. There was an antigay GOP leader on there, and a pastor, who's name escapes me. About 70% of users on Ashley Madison, report being Christian. Which is what you'd expect in a society that's 70% Christian. Christians are no better or worse than their non-Christian counterparts. They just pretend to be.
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