In 2000, the Kinsey Institute found that 11 percent of people cohabitating or married cheated. Furthermore, the divorce rate in 2007 was almost 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

See, I want to think that there are people in the world, like me, who naively believe in love. Who believe that two people can be together and be partners if they want to. Unfortunately, normal dating has gone by the wayside, sleeping around is common, and cheating, which used to be unthinkable, is coming to be the norm.

Cheating is made super easy by a Columbus-based dating website. “Life is short. Have an affair,” is the motto of Columbus website, ashleymadison.com. People can meet others who want to have an affair anonymously.

According to Steph Davidson, a spokesman for the site, about 30 percent of people on dating websites are in relationships. Creator of ashleymadison.com Noel Biderman saw dollar signs.

“I am an entrepreneur; my role is to fill a market demand. Ashleymadison.com does exactly that,” he said in an e-mail.

The promotional e-mail from ashleymadison.com says there is a market for it, especially from women. Apparently, many a lonely housewife or career woman is lacking affection from her cold, unresponsive husband. She must satisfy her passions elsewhere. Sounds like the plot from a low-budget porno to me.

Why not just break up with that person and start anew? Would that be too logical?

Biderman says cheating can actually save relationships.

“For those people in sexless marriages (who did not sign up for that), then yes, having the cathartic outlet of a lover can and will make them better partners, parents, bosses, employees, etc. by removing the major stress in their lives – NO SEX.”

So … people should deal with a ruined marriage by ruining it more? Why not address the real problem: that people don’t think things through before they get committed.

Biderman brings up good points — that there are a lot of factors in breaking up that make it hard to leave. It’s hard to leave someone or your family and financial situations, and overall there is going to be a lot of pain involved. But cheating is just a selfish way of satisfying yourself and not caring about the others involved.

Ashleymadison.com has gotten many responses, from thank you notes to actual threats of violence. Biderman tries to respond to these personally. He said he doesn’t want people to lash out at his site because “failing to be accountable for your own life will truly not get you where you want to be.”

Huh. That’s funny, coming from a person who advocates infidelity as a way to escape from dealing with the issues of a bad marriage.

Tell me what you think. I want someone to explain to me the point of cheating, because I just don’t get it.