(LifeSiteNews) — The latest scandal to hit Trumpworld – although it was almost drowned out by the drumbeats of war in the Middle East – is the revelation, published by the Daily Mail on March 31, that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s husband has been distributing compromising photographs of himself crossdressing.
Bryon Noem, who has been married to the former governor of South Dakota for over 30 years, appears to have sent hundreds of explicit messages via a fake name to at least three women and spent $25,000 over 14 months via PayPal, Cash App, and other methods for sexual talk. He also sent selfies of himself wearing pink spandex and balloons stuffed into his top to simulate having large breasts. Details of the exchanges are better left undescribed.
“Ms. Noem is devastated,” her representatives told the New York Post. “The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time.” The Noems have three children: daughters Kassidy, 31, and Kennedy, 29, and a son, 23-year-old Booker. The Noems also have several grandchildren.
Predictably, the press is gleefully covering every detail of this scandal. Sex sells, and the public enjoys watching the fall of high-profile figures, especially when those figures have held themselves up as Christian culture warriors. Nonetheless, this scandal prompts a number of observations for consideration:
1) Public life comes with inherent dangers. LGBT activists have been delighted by the scandal, especially because Kristi Noem, as governor, had signed legislation restricting drag shows and backed religious freedom bills. Hypocrisy and moral failure are the greatest weapons of the sexual revolutionaries; every public figure should recognize that their personal behavior will be endlessly scrutinized and should strive to be above reproach. The Scriptures are filled with examples of people (David, Samson, Solomon) falling into sexual sin as a warning against pride in our own perceived moral virtue.
2) Pornography addiction is a scourge that has toppled and will topple many would-be culture warriors. Never in human history has sexual sin been so easily accessible; anyone with a smartphone has the ability to engage in behavior that would have taken enormous effort for every previous generation. It is very likely that pornography was Noem’s pathway into “sexting” and “phone sex” with adult performers; it is equally likely that the strange fetishes he paid a small fortune to engage in metastasized through pornography use. If you are not taking steps to protect yourself from pornography, start today.
3) Despite the glee of LGBT activists that the husband of a political enemy has fallen to their level, the primary victims of this scandal are Noem’s family. Noem has children and grandchildren, and they have likely seen the pictures being distributed across social media platforms and by the press; if not, they have surely been exposed to the grim details. Their pain and shame are likely intense. The internet has persuaded millions of people that they can engage in sexual sins “privately.” But sexual sin is not private – it always hurts others. Noem surely did not intend to hurt his wife, children, and grandchildren, but his behavior guaranteed that he would. We should assume that our online behavior will become public.
4) There are also dangers inherent to public officials or those close to them having secret sexual scandals. As the Independent noted: “National security experts said that Bryon Noem’s alleged activities could have put his wife at risk while she served in President Donald Trump’s cabinet … National security experts told the outlet that the photographs could have been intercepted by ‘hostile intelligence services.’” Noem was sharing these photographs with strangers while his wife was serving in cabinet. Sin makes us vulnerable as well as stupid.
This scandal should not make us sneer – it should make us take stock. It should not prompt pride, but humility. And above all, scandals like this should make us feel sadness, not triumph or self-congratulation. Bryon Noem’s family is enduring immense pain. Many more are currently caught in the same tangled digital webs that serve Satan so well. Mike Pence was mocked for taking such care to protect his marriage. As it turns out, he understood the human heart far better than those who laughed at him.
