One time, when I was in the fifth grade, I stole a pellet gun from my grandparents’ cabinet and accidentally killed a bird outside.
Needing to cover it up, I did the only thing I could think of – I buried that sucker as deep as I could.
When I came back inside, it didn’t take Granny long to have my full confession and for me to receive several difficult chores as penance.
Segue to now: General Petraeus is out of a job.
If you haven’t heard, the longtime general and recent head of the Central Intelligence Agency has resigned from his post after it was uncovered that he was having an affair with the woman who was writing his biography.
The investigation is far from over, though, as there are concerns of potential national security breaches wrapped up in the affair. This story is really interesting because much of the public has responded with strong support for Petraeus.
According to one poll, over 67 percent of people believe his resignation was unnecessary.
They claim the affair had nothing to do with his position and even assert the conventional wisdom of removing a figure from office because of things like this should be done away with.
Others are claiming his actions should be overlooked because of his stellar career as a public servant.
Steve Siebold, with the Huffington Post, said, “The bottom line is this is a man who is very good at what he does professionally, and we need him. It’s a major loss for our country.
Cheating on your spouse is never a good idea, but what does that have to do with Petraeus’ ability to run the CIA?”
Essentially, the idea behind this kind of support from Siebold and others is someone’s pragmatic value outweighs other things like that person’s character.
So because Petraeus was so talented and useful, it really doesn’t matter he cheated on his wife. We should have kept him on board. Is this right?
I don’t think it is. I’m glad he stepped down.
I think we should take into account the whole of the person in regard to occupational fitness. Why?
Because I don’t think the distinction between public and private life is entirely legitimate.
They’re connected; our public lives are the reflections of our private lives.
This means a compromise of integrity within our private lives will affect the public as well.
When we ignore this idea, and choose to compartmentalize instead, all we get is a slippery slope.
So while I agree with the Petraeus resignation, I certainly do think we should forgive this guy.
I don’t think it will be hard for most us to do, as we’re a pretty forgiving society.
I think it’s because we see too much of ourselves in Petraeus.
Obviously very few of us have slept with a person doing a biography on us, but we all know we’re far from perfect. His misstep only reminds us of our own shortcomings and our own need for forgiveness.
But forgiveness is rarely free. Sometimes a price has to be paid. In this case, we should be satisfied with the resignation.