miners and mistresses

What does it say about the state of marriage today when an accidental sampling of Chilean miners turns up so many with mistresses and children on the side?  According to the London Telegraph, at least five wives so far have encountered mistresses who want a stake of the financial windfall coming their lovers’ way. 

One miner “has a first wife he never divorced, his live-in partner, a mother of a child he had several years ago, and a woman who claims to be his current girlfriend all visiting the camp.”  An official said that “It’s a logistical nightmare trying to keep them apart and of course they all want to send messages.”  The government plans to resolve the financial fights by asking each miner to pick the woman he wants his benefits to go to.

This story is a minefield of biblical application:  be sure your sins will find you out; it’s better to live in the bottom of a mine shaft than in a big house with two (or more) bickering women; and sin is many things, but it’s always really, really dumb.

I am happy that the miners are alive and well, but the news that many of them broke their wedding vows and the hearts of their wives tarnishes the story for me.  They showed resilience and poise during their ordeal underground, but many of them are clearly not heroes.