After the fall

The Washington Post's Politics and Policy blog points to an article in the evagelical magazine World ("Lessons from a broken man") in which self-deposed Rep. Mark Souder talks about his affair and life after the scandal:

Trying to figure it out, Souder wrote, "One of the biggest dangers--which is partly why intimacy is desired--is loneliness. Loneliness doesn't mean being alone as much as it means being around hundreds of people but not really knowing them. It's a job that results in hundreds, even thousands of friends, but not much closeness." But he knows that explanation is insufficient: "Bottom line, however, is that the problem is sin. . . . The problem is getting the will subordinated to the Holy Spirit early enough that the Spirit is not squelched."

The article describes the affair both as "torrid" and "years long," which is hard for me to fathom about Souder. It doesn't get into the issue that most people have asked me about -- how is this affecting Souder's wife, Diane, and the rest of the family? There is much discussion about members of Congress who take their families to Washington and those who leave them in the district and which might be better. From the article: "Souder doesn't believe that moving his family to Washington would have kept him from falling into sin. He argues that if his family had been in Washington, the affair back in the district would have been 'easier and more constant.' "