My friend and I spent the day together yesterday. My boss had forced me to take a "day of bereavement" from work due to my grandmother's passing and my friend had her mother pass this last Monday. We went swimming, we went shopping, and then we spent the rest of the evening painting, doing collage work, and basically just having a craft day. It was a solid day for the both of us, and certainly a necessary one.
Friend 'A' very much a homebody now and has kind of gotten out of contact with many of our old friends while I've remained firmly attached to many members of the group. She asked about one in particular, a friend who I spend a great deal of time with these days as we just "get each other" on a number of topics. Let's call her Friend 'B' for simplicity's sake.
I explained that our Friend B was finding it hard to date and that I understood because, having been cheated on by most of my exes, it can often be difficult to not only let new people in, but to not carry those insecurity issues carry over into the next relationship, effectively ruining it before it's even had a chance to begin.
Friend A understood, but also tried to argue on behalf of Friend B's ex, who isn't a bad guy by any means, but he did a stupid thing. A very stupid thing, the details of which are really just too stupid to even retype here. Suffice it to say, he was in the wrong. But it's not a thing that he's known for or that he has regularly done.
I personally believe that cheating is a fairly unforgivable offense due to how destructive its emotional aftereffects can be on the partner being cheated on. Friend A believed that there can be mitigating circumstances where it's less black and white, where there is a moral gray area -- like when a person knows the relationship is ending, so they just kind of burn the bridge before it can crumble of its own accord. I get it, but I don't care for it. I find that method distasteful and still less optimal than simply ending the relationship.
But are there mitigating circumstances where cheating is acceptable? Is there a moral gray area when it comes to that kind of act that comes between two/three people? Can the offending party ever be trusted to make the right decision in a future bad moment?