Relationships

Do we truly believe that love conquers all? Can we accept the full implications of that idea?

Do we truly believe that love conquers all? Can we accept the full implications of that idea?


I realize that this is closer to a question than a take, but since this is a matter of morality it takes much more room to itterate what your point is. I would greatly appreciate anyone's insights into this issue, as it is not an easy question for me to answer by myself.


I feel I must preface this question by stating that I am not in any of these proposed situations, but am merely putting them forth as examples.


I have never believed in the idea of a soulmate. I don’t think that there is a “perfect someone” out there for everyone, and I don’t think that there really is someone where it is easy to be with them at all times. I believe that there are a million and one things that go into compatibility, and that means that some people are just naturally more inclined to work out than others, and that there are some people out there who connect on most of those things. To find somebody that you connect with that well, and to be with someone who you love that strongly is incredibly rare. I think most people can agree that if you ever find somebody that you love that much, somebody where you care about each other more than anything else in the world, you should hold onto it and never let it go no matter what happens. Because with all of the evil and horrible things that happen on this planet, if you can find somebody who makes it all ok you should hold onto them and never let them go. But the implications of accepting something like that are difficult.


It’s an easy statement to make; if two people feel that strongly about each other then they shouldn’t let anything get in the way of that. But how far do we accept that belief?


I consider myself fairly capable of detaching myself from social mores and stigmas in order to look at things with as little outside influence as possible, but I don’t know if I could ever fully accept that statement. For most people, I think that finding that person will not run into these particular problems, but compatibility is something that isn’t restrained by morality or even the basic laws of nature. So it is entirely possible, no matter how much we may be disgusted by the idea, that any two people could have this kind of love. So how can you decide that those feelings and emotions, things that we would call precious among any other two people, are immoral under certain circumstances?


It’s easy to have values when they don’t conflict with the basic social mores that we grow up with, but what happens when they conflict? Which is the right answer?


The examples I’m about to give disgust me to some degree, and I don’t want to believe that deep down I could accept these things, but I know that it is entirely possible.


What if two people who have this kind of love have a massive age gap? They still feel the same emotions we call sacred in other relationships, but let’s say one person is 20 and the other is 50, or even one person is 14 and the other is 27. It goes against every inch of what I think is moral and just, but it is possible for that couple to have a love like that. I am by no means condoning pedophilia, but what if that couple that connects on almost every level and is so perfect for each other that the word “soulmate” could be used to describe them, what if that kind of love is between that kind of couple?


What if those two people are cousins, or brother and sister? It’s still the same pure love that we are all trying to find, and they found it in each other. This is something that is wrong in just about every culture around the globe, and so fundamentally “wrong” that we call it a crime against nature. It goes against pretty much every fiber of my being to say that if those people truly have love, they should fight for it, but shouldn’t they?


But morality is a social construct, a set of rules and guidelines that define what is and isn’t acceptable in order to be a part of a particular society. That means that morals and values are subjective, and it also means that there is no hard evidence of any act, no matter how abhorrent we see it, is truly “wrong”. Right and wrong do not exist without a culture to set those mores, values, and beliefs, but love does. Love exists no matter who or where you are, and it is the one part of the human experience that we all can understand. They say that “love conquers all”, and to a greater degree, that is correct. Love transcends right and wrong, social stigmas, and cultural beliefs. So we can’t truly say that any two people in love (And I’m not talking about lust and wanting to have sex, like we seem to trivialize any relationship that does not follow our moral guidelines as) are doing something wrong.


It’s easy to accept a belief when it coincides with your values. But what about when they go against just about everything you have been taught to believe, what about when the very thought of such a thing can make you sick to your stomach? I don’t know if I can accept something like that, but I think I understand it. What I want to know, is if any two people (and I truly mean any) find a love like that, do we have any right to interfere?


I happen to believe that the purpose of life is love. And as much as it disgusts me to accept those kind of examples, in my mind, to deny them would be to deny two people the very reason we are on this planet. And that isn’t something I could do.


It disgusts me to think that I could be saying that I could accept something like pedophilia or incest, but the same basic principle of pure love that we use to prove that gay couples are not “wrong” or “immoral” is the exact same principle that would go to say that those things are not wrong.


I don’t know if I could accept that. Could you?

Do we truly believe that love conquers all? Can we accept the full implications of that idea?
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