Introduction:

Few of us are ever faced with making the sort of life or death decisions we routinely hear about in the news. And yet there are decisions we face everyday that–whether we realize it or not–have very real moral implications.

Part trivia game and part reality show, BustedHalo’s Moral Dilemmas feature is intended not only to raise moral issues for our readers but also to ask you to participate in resolving them. After reading the story below about Blaise, Kate and Roger please tell us what the “right thing to do” is via the quiz at the bottom. Next week we’ll offer a “wrinkle” to the dilemma and ask your opinion once again. Finally, we will have our own moral theologian weigh in with some analysis of the dilemma and your responses.

Planning the Perfect Day

Within two weeks of Roger asking Kate to marry him she had already finalized plans on countless details for the event. She had reserved the Church, booked the reception and rehearsal dinner, bought her dress and chosen the dresses her bridesmaids would wear. Kate was an only child and her family didn’t have much money but she had been dreaming about this day since she was six and she wanted everything to be perfect. Her parents wanted to help out anyway they could and—unbeknownst to her—even took out a second mortgage on their home to help pay for part of the reception. Roger helped out where he could but for the most part he just stayed out of the way and enjoyed watching Kate’s excitement.

Blaise is happy that Kate will be joining the family soon. As Roger’s little brother he’s been around the couple for a while and sees how happy they are together. He knows that Kate is good for Roger; she is a take-charge person and Roger could use some structure and direction in his life.

Bouncing Around

In the ten years since he graduated college, Roger had bounced around at a number of different jobs. Over that time he worked as an accountant, teacher, utilities inspector and store manager. It’s been difficult at times for Blaise to see Roger struggle because, even though he’s two years younger, Blaise’s career in sports marketing has really taken off and he’s become successful. Over the past two years though Roger’s job in office equipment sales has been steady and, even though the job requires a lot of travel, he seems to be doing well with the company.

Now that the nuptials were only two weeks away, Blaise tried calling his brother to see how the preparations were shaping up and to talk about which of the extended family would not be able to attend. He dialed Roger’s cell but Kate answered instead. She told him that Roger had lent her his cell phone when hers died a week ago and that he was using his work cell now. She gave Blaise the number.

“He’s out of town anyway on business this week in Atlanta so that’s really the best way to reach him now” Kate said.

“Atlanta!” Blaise said. “I’m flying there for a conference tomorrow afternoon. Can you tell me where he’ll be? I’ll try to look him up while I’m there.”

After Kate gave him the info she had to dash off to do some errands. In the next few days she would be making the rounds to the florist, reception hall, photographer and band to drop off their final deposits. “I’ve never written so many big checks in my life” she joked before hanging up.

O’ Brother

Blaise knew the building Roger was working in and decided it would be more fun to surprise him and take him out for a drink—it had been a while since they’d had some time alone as brothers.

The next afternoon as he made his way through downtown Atlanta, Blaise stopped into a restaurant about three blocks from where Roger was working called the Kamikaze Café. He’d heard about the place and thought he’d check it out in case he wanted to take his brother there for dinner.

On the way out he stopped to catch the score on a baseball game playing on a TV by the bar. Just as he was about to leave he saw someone who looked just like Roger at a table on the other side of the café. It was dark and he couldn’t be certain so he moved in closer to get a better look. Blaise walked a few feet in the direction of the table and realized it definitely was his brother having a drink with another guy. Just as he was about to shout out “Roger!” Blaise saw his brother lean over the table and kiss the man he was with on the lips several times. Blaise froze in his tracks before he could say anything.

Time for you to decide. What should Blaise do now?

Read “The Wrinkle” to our dilemma.

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