According to his wife Christi, 56-year old John Gibson – a pastor and professor in New Orléans – struggled with addiction and depression in the past. And on August 24th after it was revealed by hackers that he frequented the cheaters website Ashley Madison, Christi found him dead in their home.
“It was a moment that life doesn’t prepare you for,” Christi told CNN. “How do you tell your kids that their dad is gone and that he took his own life?”
Christi also told CNN Gibson left a suicide note with an apology—she didn’t say what for, but the note did mention Ashley Madison. She also said her husband had struggled with addiction and depression in the past.
Gibson was set to teach classes at the New Orléans Baptist Theological Seminary the day after his death, but since the Seminary’s president announced Gibson’s death on Twitter, students and other teachers have been mourning him on Facebook.
Can you say “Family Values?” Another Republican caught with an Ashley Madison account, but this time, he has a very creative reason.
According to the Executive Director for the Louisiana Republican Party, Jason Dore, his membership with the website whose main function was providing members with the opportunity to cheat on their spouse, was not for cheating purposes, but for “opposition research!”
Good one Dore, good one!
Jason Doré told the Times-Picayune on Thursday via text message that his name and former personal credit card bill address were used to create an account. A massive database of personal information and data, which included federal employees and military personnel, from the dating website for cheating spouses was released Wednesday by hackers.
“As the state’s leading opposition research firm, our law office routinely searches public records, online databases and websites of all types to provide clients with comprehensive reports,” Doré told the newspaper via text message. “Our utilization of this site was for standard opposition research. Unfortunately, it ended up being a waste of money and time.”
The newspaper reported his account started in 2013 and spent $175.98.
He couldn’t deny it because the fact is clear. So hours after it was revealed that Josh Duggar, a Conservative icon who was once the Executive Director of the Family Research Council, had an Ashley Madison account, he was left with no option but to admit in a statement that he used the Ashley Madison account to pay for sex and did in fact, cheat on his wife.
‘I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife.
‘I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.’
I have brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and fans of our show with my actions.
Duggar was one of 37 million people who allegedly went to the Ashley Madison website with the sole intent of cheating on their spouse.
Republican and conservative star Josh Duggar is so loved by those on the Republican side of the bench, he was made the executive director of the Family Research Council. According to its mission statement, the Family Research Council’s purpose is “to champion marriage and family as the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society.” And it was just revealed that Josh Duggar, director of the conservative Family Research Council, had an Ashley Madison account.
In May 2015, Duggar was forced to resign after In Touch Weekly reported that he had molested five young girls (four of whom were his own sisters) beginning in 2002. When the accusations became public, the family went into crisis mode, insisting that Josh had reformed and that the media covering the claims was intent on “exploiting women.”
Josh himself took to his family’s Facebook page to absolve himself of his past indiscretions and assure the world he was back on a righteous path:
Twelve years ago, as a young teenager I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends. I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling. I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life. I sought forgiveness from those I had wronged and asked Christ to forgive me and come into my life. I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions. In my life today, I am so very thankful for God’s grace, mercy and redemption.
And his wife, for her part, certainly seemed to believe it:
And when you, our sweet fans, first met me when Josh asked me to marry him… I was able to say, “Yes” knowing who Josh really is – someone who had gone down a wrong path and had humbled himself before God and those whom he had offended. Someone who had received the help needed to change the direction of his life and do what is right. I want to say thank you to those who took time over a decade ago to help Josh in a time of crisis. Your investment changed his life from going down the wrong path to doing what is right.
But data released online in the wake of the hack on Ashley Madison’s servers certainly seems to show otherwise. Someone using a credit card belonging to a Joshua J. Duggar, with a billing address that matches the home in Fayetteville, Arkansas owned by his grandmother Mary—a home that was consistently shown on their now-cancelled TV show, and in which Anna Duggar gave birth to her first child—paid a total of $986.76 for two different monthly Ashley Madison subscriptions from February of 2013 until May of 2015.
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