What Would You Do For Eight Thousand Dollars?

Octomom, Nadya Suleman, recently posed (almost) naked for a British women’s magazine. If you’re like me, your first inclination is to condemn her in several different ways, which eventually come back to the price. $8000.00 is her rate for showing her modest parts to the world. Maybe $4.00 is the price others will pay to participate with her. It reminds me of a movie, I think the title was Indecent Proposal about the consequences to a married couple who entertained, and eventually accepted a proposal of a wealthy man to sleep with the wife in exchange for a million dollars. I know they are not exactly the same, but there are commonalities. It comes down to this: when I am convicted that something is wrong, what will it take to make me do it anyway?

First, let’s consider money. How much would it take to change one digit or one check box on your tax return? Plenty will do this for less than a thousand dollars. And no matter how it is rationalized, it is still lying, cheating, and stealing. How big would the jakpot need to be to entice you to win by fraudulent means?

Nadya sacrificed the sanctity of her body’s modesty for money, what would entice you? And how much would it take for you to cross that line?

The point is, without excusing anyone for breach of morality, why are we so eager to condemn Nadya, without first taking notice of the plank of wood impaling our own eye?