Is It Still Adultery If Your Spouse Has Alzheimer’s?

Now there's a loaded question and it is exactly the one that will be asked at Husson University’s 2014 Ethics Symposium where they intend to examine the social ethics of fidelity.

The symposium is a free and open to the public event scheduled to be held on March 31 from 7 – 8:30 at the University’s Richard Dyke Center. The main speaker is Marvin M. Ellison, Jr. who has earned a B.A. in religion from Davidson College and an M.A. in religion and society at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

I really had to think about the question at hand.  Are ethics and in tandem fidelity in this case relative to a situation?

I am forced to think of my grandmother who had advanced dementia before she passed and how she looked me in the eye and had no idea who I was or for that matter towards the end who she was.  I think I mourned her more that day then when she passed.  I didn’t like the thought of her being forced to live in a world full of strangers.

I can’t imagine how hard it would be to be married to a person who no longer knew me anymore. I think I’d might focus in on being dedicated to their care and comfort or I might just feel trapped.  Maybe you can be both.

I then think, if I were the person who once knew and loved my caretaker would I want them to find companionship and company if I was no longer able to meet their emotional needs.  Is there a right answer or is it totally dependent on the two people involved?

Whatever you think it should be a very interesting discussion on March 31^st.  Again this is free event but if you do plan to stop in they ask that you register on-line.