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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (7677)	3/6/2001 3:07:03 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

"What if someone wanted to get something off his chest so you promised you would keep what he said in confidence and he told you he was a serial killer with his next victim all picked out." There is the underlieing presumption when I make a promise, to keep a secret, that the person asking me to keep confidence is not planning to commit an evil act. Sometimes I remember to state this presumption, sometimes I do not. The presumption remains for me in either case. If someone confesses that they are a serial killer with the next person picked out, I would have to assume that the confession is a veiled call for help. I would offer what ever help I could, and contact the authorities immediately. I do not consider this a conflict between right and wrong. There is a definite right course of action for me to take. The case of a person disclosing the intent to commit suicide would be handled similarly. "What if you promised a friend who desperately needed a job that you'd take him to his job interview and forgot that you had loaned your car to your son. Your neighbor isn't home but his car is sitting out front and you know how to sneak in the back window of his house and get the keys." If the neighbor were a close friend or relative and we had the kind of relationship where it was understood that we could help our selves to each other's stuff in times of need, then I would go in the back but leave a note explaining why the car was gone. If I did not have this kind of relationship with the neighbor, then I would not take the car. I would explain to the job seeker that I was not able to take him and the reasons why. If I had the money I would pay for a taxi to take him or offer whatever resources I had to support him with an apology for not being able to come through with my car. People frequently make promises to others, only to find out that they can not muster the resources needed to be able to complete the task. I think people should be more careful about making promises since we are not all powerful and would need to be to establish absolute guarantees. BTW, I never make promises. Even with my children, I say things like, "I will do my best to provide you with financial support to get you through college." I always qualify it by saying something like, "unless something happens that keeps me from having the funds." Edit* The difficulty in your scenarios seems to be in deciding a right course of action now that a previous wrong has already been committed (making a promise you can't keep).