MemphisDsCouple -> RE: D/s Relationship Life Expectancy (2/19/2005 7:33:22 AM)
|
Morality I tried to not write this. But my conscience won't let me get away with it. As I write this, I am consciously avoiding citing other writers who have posted to this topic. I do not want what I write here to be taken as a personal indictment of any individual. At the same time, to allow the advocacy of immorality to stand unchallenged is to tacitly condone that immorality. My conscience will not allow that. Therefore, I offer the following in the spirit of addressing the topic of morality as a topic, not as an act of condemnation of any individuals. So, without further ado: I watched "Bound" (again) recently. (I love that movie.) In it, the character who has been to prison was asked what her crime was. She answers: "The redistribution of wealth." Sounds like Robin Hood, doesn't it? Ask any liar, thief, murderer, rapist, abductor, shoplifter, scam artist, fraud, pickpocket, grifter, ponzi schemer..... and on and on ad infinitum. The vast majority have some justification handy. When we act immorally, does that make us a bad person? Yes. It does. Is entering a committed, definitionally life-long relationship a promise? Yes, it is. To commit is to obligate oneself. It is to bind oneself. (http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=committing ) To break a commitment is an immoral act. I have committed acts of immorality in my life. We all have. Did that make me a bad person? Yes. It did. However, through subsequent acts of recognizing the wrongfulness of my actions, remorse for that immorality, making amends (as possible) for that immorality, renunciation of that past immorality, making a commitment (there's that word/concept again) to never repeat that immorality and actually living up to that commitment to never again act immorally in that way - I can find/achieve redemption, put that immorality behind me and again become a good person. OTOH..... if I try to justify the immorality of which I was guilty, if I refuse to renounce it, if I try to condone it, if I say it is ok, then I am not "absolved of my sin" (and no, I am not Catholic) as the saying goes. Breaking relationship commitments is not something to be justified. It is not something to be condoned any more than lying to obtain money is something to be condoned. Lying is lying and breaking trust is breaking trust. The fact that our legal system allows (or even facilitates) people to practice or to get away with an immoral act does not make the act moral. The fact of the legality of divorce does not make it moral to practice divorce. And, legality of divorce certainly does not make it moral to break commitments or to extol the advantages of or to glorify in the availability of a legal means of breaking solemnly made commitments. We have a concept called the "honest mistake". It means we didn't think things through. We didn't realize at the time we were doing something wrong, or at least we didn't realize the magnitude of our wrong. To advocate the ease of breaking commitments is not an "honest mistake". It is a calculated practice of deception. If I make a mistake and try to change, that's one thing. If I make a mistake and brag about how easy it is and how much I profited from the law allowing me to do it - that's another thing entirely, morally speaking. And finally, a marriage is a formal, public acknowledgement of a commitment, but it is an acknowledgement only. The meat, if you will, the meaningfulness of that commitment need not be formalized by a marriage ceremony. Lying is lying. Breaking trust is breaking trust. Postscript: The reader is welcome to print or save this post for your own use. Please do not copy it to any public or semi-public forum (including email groups/lists) without my express permission. Thanks. All rights reserved. (I write this postscript because after-the-fact someone wrote to me to inform me that they had copied a prior post I wrote to another list. So, I thought I'd better clarify what my preference/policy is regarding use of what I write.) B. (the male half of MemphisDsCouple)
|
|
|
|