When folks have some kind of scandal come out and the revelations are nasty, ugly, or embarrassing - why do those of us that follow a similar moral code sometimes stand around clucking at the horror of it all and telling the poor schmuck that they should have done better at living the way he knew he was supposed to. I mean, we've all done nasty, ugly, and embarrassing things, right? The only difference is we don't usually get caught and held under some kind of massive spotlight. Have some compassion and use it as an excuse for self-reflection and self-correction, huh?
That's one side of the human response to seeing someone fail to live up to their ideals that I don't like. The other side is even worse! People who normally either ignore, condone, or excuse the bad behavior, when they see it in others, will start crowing that the stupid sap's moral code failed to work - and therefore no one should adhere to it. This of course, is absurd - it doesn't even qualify as a logical fallacy - that's how much it sucks. Nope, all this statement reveals is a startling lack of understanding of basic language.
You see, when someone follows a moral code and they make a mistake it is a failure to APPLY the moral code, not a failure OF the moral code.
That's what caused the trouble. Not living it. Duh. And how is just giving up on a ideal so much better than actually trying for something better?
How do people get that mixed up?!?
The bottom line is this: I hope everyone gets a little bit better (by whatever measure they care to apply) each and every day. I hope that we all become a bit stronger by learning from our own mistakes. And I hope that we can learn from other people's mistakes so we don't have to learn everything the hardest way possible!
/rant
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