Political pundits are describing Governor Mark Sanford's admission of adultery on Wednesday as a "confessional" in which he apologized to those of faith and asked for forgiveness.
Much of Sanford's base support and political platform centers on family values and God, and as one pastor put it Wednesday night, it seems more and more of those types of politicians are "biting the dust."
In the few minutes leading up to his confession, Sanford talked on the reasons people sin and said that selfish humans are the root of the cause.
"Sin is in fact grounded in this notion of 'What is it that I want,' as opposed to somebody else," Sanford explained and then added, "Let me throw one more apology out there and that is to the people of faith across South Carolina and for that matter across the nation."
Sanford talked extensively about the consequences of sin and told the world that God's word is meant to protect people.
"It's not a moral rigid list of do's and don'ts just for the heck of do's and don'ts. It is indeed to protect us from ourselves."
Sanford said there are consequences of sin -- in particular "this press conference is a consequence."
Another consequence is the possibility of losing support from some of Sanford's biggest political backers -- the right-wing, Christian sect of the Republican party.
"As a Christian, I feel it's immoral, and it's not a good example of leading our state," said Lisa Julian, a resident of Horry County.
Pastors are weighing in on the issue as well, including Dick Button of Beach Family Worship Center near Socastee.
"There's consequences to sin. So there's going to be many repercussions to what he's done, but at the same time, as a church family we get behind him, and we support and we encourage him to move forward with his faith and not let this be a stumbling block," said Button.
But when asked if he would politically support Sanford should he venture to future political posts, the pastor of the contemporary church said it would be unlikely.
"I think when someone does something like this, especially as a conservative (and) as a Republican that stands for what he stands for and then does something like this, it would cause more of a dent in his running for president than it would for someone who didn't have his stance."
