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Is it appropriate for a private sin, such as adultery, to be made public in today's society?

To be able to discuss this question meaningfully we will need to differentiate the concept of sin from other forms of inappropriate behavior such as antisocial behavior or criminal behavior.

To my mind, sin refers to actions that hurt the soul of the person. In a practical way we may say that sins disturbs a persons internal peace of mind or happiness. In religious terms we ma speak of things like hell and heaven.

Anti-social or criminal acts disturb the discipline of the society and hurt others.

Action by the society for personal sins that do not hurt society, and therefore are not anti-social or criminal acts, can be justified only on the basis of good of the person committing the sin. Acts like those of inquisitions of the past cannot be accepted today.

When we speak of good of the individual, usually confidentiality is more effective. This is the reason for the reason why confessions in in the church are kept confidential.

In crimes that affect the society, it is usually better to have transparency - that is people should know what action is being taken against a suspect and why. In some exceptional case it might be justified to keep the matters confidential to protect the victim. For example, in India a great stigma may be attached to the victim of a rape, and in therefore it is better to maintain confidentiality about the victim.

Perhaps the main reason for the media's exposure of adultery having been committed in the lives of political figures is that this act is an indication of dishonesty and disloyalty in the public official, a character flaw which easily could have spilled over into his/her political actions, as well.

Also, because ours is a tabloid society, such revelations that were once deemed inappropriate are now made public for the simple reason that they sell.  So, in this respect, it is inappropriate to expose the private lives of celebrities and others who are not involved in political positions.

Adultery is not "appropriate" to discuss in public, but it is somewhat necessary. One who would cheat on a spouse (and an entire family) has serious character flaws. The public then, rightfully so, begins to speculate on what other character flaws this person has. If they already cheat and lie and cover up bad behavior, what else are they capable of?  Yes, sometimes exposing this behavior is merely to see magazines and make people watch trashy Hollywood TV-based shows, but many times it is appropriate to question the leadership skills of someone.

For example, think of the Bill Clinton scandal. Salacious story, right? Yes. One that showed inappropriate conduct. One that the public should definitely be aware of!