I saw the movie, It’s Complicated, which deals with an affair situation. In true Hollywood style, there is a great effort to rationalize immorality. In one scene some friends tell the leading female character that “You’ve been good, you deserve to be bad (e.g. do something immoral)”. That same kind of rationalization occurs on a daily basis. People make excuses to have affairs. They view life as a giant scoreboard where they can balance out their good acts with their bad ones. When they have enough points on the ‘good’ side, they can purchase an ‘immoral’ act from the other and not feel so guilty.
This kind of logic may provide entertainment and sound good in a movie, but in real life, it devastates all the lives it touches. Such phrases may ease your conscience, but it does not make an affair right. It says that you wittingly know that the action is wrong, yet you are choosing to do it anyway. That shows a premeditated act. Hollywood movies have way of desensitizing people to immoral acts. Do not fall for such rationalizations. When you have to face the consequences of your actions, spouting off something like “I deserved to have an affair” is not going to take the pain away.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey D. Murrah
