In pondering the origin of affairs, there are some observations that I have made. It is common knowledge that infidelity and affairs are often the subject, it not the focus of material on television and the movies. Affairs are also all over the news. In an insane manner, we term the constant diet of infidelity “entertainment”. We are being shown that such behavior is ‘normal’ , excusing the acts as ‘they can’t help it’. With the consumption of so many hours of infidelity and cheating, is it any surprise that some people give in to the temptation?
The many hours of exposure to infidelity is not a new observation. I am not saying that watching it makes it happen either. What puzzled me was ‘how’ does viewing that many hours of infidelity impact a person? We know that it does impact, but not the mechanism of impact. What I observed was that viewing such material ‘desensitizes’ people. They are essentially numbed out to being sensitve to their spouses and relationship issues. While in a desensitized state, they make poor choices. Among the poor choices are either giving in to the urge, ignoring the warning signs of the affair, or just plan ignoring the needs of the spouse. While in a densensitized state, the person often begins looking at other men or women. Temptations and situations they would normally avoid, they find themselves in the middle of. Situations that decades ago only occurred in clubs, discos, honkytonks, juke joints and ice houses, are now happening in the homes of nations around the world. Television and movies have crept into places where such ideas previously would not have been welcomed. Perversion and disloyaly are now being accepted and tolerated, whereas in previous generations they would have been shunned and shamed.
The desensitization has brought with it numerous problems.Removing oneself from this mire is not easy, yet it is worth the effort.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey Murrah
