I've been reading this thread and I actually think that DS_Joost has made me think and consider my own opinions. I've been trying to empathize with what he says, as logically I don't consider anything incorrect at face value. If 3 people are happy together and all emotionally satisfied, why should I care? Just like many fetishes and kinks I consider weird, as long as everyone is a willing participant and behaves like responsible adults, I don't really care what people do. They'll have to handle the emotional fallout or whatever if there is any. But as I try to empathize and put myself in his position. there's a very strong feeling of "No, this is wrong." that resonates inside me that I can't particularly defend as anything other than a general personalized sense of right and wrong that I have.
I've actually been talking to my wife about this topic off and on this morning. We've been together just over 10 years now and I guess I'm lucky that we both have a pretty strict preference for monogamy. I look at my children and wonder how many generations it'll be before that is no longer the cultural norm. I think this is all part of a larger debate I've been having in my head about how systems of morals have been changing as society becomes more and more irreligious and whether or not that's a good thing. I'm a pretty staunch atheist, but as I get older I start to find myself enjoying the company of more religious individuals. I don't know, I'm just rambling now.
Know what, I've cooled down and am ready for another round. To begin with, this is what I was talking about the whole time. You sir, are a gentleman of the highest order. This is a well thought out and rational response. I'm not here trying to get people to change their minds regardings kinks, fetishes and the like. I'm not trying to get people to prescribe to my lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with getting a very specific resonance as to what I am doing. I completely understand that and can empathize with that. I might be different from the norm, and I know that. But different from the norm says nothing of my sanity, or my wife's, or the other one. We are completely consensual in what we do, have considered all the possible outcomes and decided to go for it. It's not about lust, either. It's not because I get to stick my dingus in another woman. Been there done that. In fact, the open relationship we had is closed now. We are happy, have done what we wanted, and decided to move on. I know about the emotional fallout that can occur. As with any relationship, it is always a risk. Considering the percentage of people divorcing, I wouldn't rate our chance any higher. Like others have said, a relationship and a marriage is a pact. The contents of that pact can very between people. None are right, none are wrong. For me, when discussing true love, there is no baseline. Some strictly like just one other person, some people happen to come across the fact that another person has entered their lives and is as much a part of us as the other.
What you say about the resonance I find very honestly worded. I had hoped more people would be honest in saying they just don't know instead of saying they're right just because. There's no wrong in admitting you don't know why you feel a certain thing. Certainly doesn't make the feeling any less, or any less valid. You say you can't explain. You don't have to. You feel what you feel, and accept that I feel what I feel. Also, about your religious comment. I get you. I have made the decision to be strictly of a scientific mind, therefore I must forever be sceptical of the existence of a god. Yet I have many religious friends with whom I have many wonderful discussions and conversations. We feed off each other because we are different. It is always good to try and see the other side and not just brush it off as being false or stupid. In my mind, knowledge comes from various places, as does experience and growth. Only sticking to your side of the conversation stifles growth, both for the individual and for society as a whole. What is worrying to me is that, even though I know Neogaf isn't exactly a representation of society, too many members are really one sided in their beliefs, opinions and knowledge, and outright refuse to listen to people who might think differently than them
You do, however, and for that, I congratulate you.