Infidelity - Unfaithfulness - Current Partnerships.

Interestingly, different names for the same thing & I think the meaning changes subtly according to which you use. Infidelity to me is definitely about actions & sexual betrayal. Unfaithfulness can cover much more - I do think you can be unfaithful in thought as well as deed. The modern euphemism, current partnerships, seems to imply all sorts of loose & varying relationships & is much less perjorative than either of the others. It seems to allow many different liasons at the same time, including sexual ones.

I have never believed that there is only one person that you can have a deep and meaningful relationship with. Given the world population there must be many people you could fall in love with & have a lasting relationship with. It's only the long term success of that relationship which varies. Being "in love" is very different to loving someone. I doubt the former can be maintained over a long period, whereas the latter can. The main point of a long term, stable, realtionship between a man & a woman is to procreate & rear children in an optimum environment. We are animals & that is what we have been programmed to do.

The question is how much does it matter whatever you call it? I think it does, but I imagine that is quite old fashioned to many younger people. One of the reasons I think it matters is because of the harm it does to the people within a broken relationship. Even the adults may have their confidence destroyed. Worse than that though, the children will almost inevitably be unable to really understand & will suffer divided loyalties & their world turned upside down. Some separating parents handle things extremely well, but many don't & let their own emotions dominate.

We have enormous freedoms in our society today. People can, by an large, chose to work, to have children, to marry, to separate & divorce. The worrying thing to my mind is the seeming lack of real understanding of or caring about the consequences of actions for everyone involved & our permissive attitude to some basically selfish behaviour. Although everyone can make a mistake and should be able to learn from it and move on.

I just think that we should take more responsibility. Being faithful is important, not just to our partners, but also to our family & friends. I also think we should be faithful to a moral code of behaviour which allows people to live together in harmony in a society. We are losing that worldwide.