Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Is It O.K. to Double-Cross a Swindler?” I manage my elderly father’s financial affairs and was unable to stop payment on a check he sent to a tech-support scammer. His bank investigated and determined, properly, that they could not intervene because he had signed the check. My phone[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “My Ex Is Advertising for Sugar Daddies. Can I Tell Her Mother?” I recently broke up with a longtime girlfriend. We are both in our mid-20s. She was temporarily without work for the summer and low on cash. After our breakup, it came to my attention that she[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Should You Tell a Man’s Fiancée That He Faked His Degrees?” A few years ago, I realized that a close friend was misrepresenting himself professionally as having multiple graduate degrees that he did not actually earn. When I confronted him in a compassionate way, he denied it, but[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Can a Woman Pretend to Be a Lesbian to Get a Couples’ Discount?” My local pool offers memberships for single people, couples (defined as “significant others living together”) and family memberships. The couples and family memberships are discounted from the rates for single people. I am a woman[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Is It O.K. to Find Sexual Satisfaction Outside Your Marriage?” I am married and have three children with my husband. For the most part, our lives are happy. My husband and I have a good relationship and are active in our children’s lives. However, I am utterly unsatisfied[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of responses to the New York Times’, The Ethicist, without imposing values, here is my take on today’s post, “Do I Have to Tell My Family I’m No Longer Religious?” I am an African-American woman from a very religious Southern Baptist family. I now live in Europe with my husband, who is an atheist, and my two children. I am spiritual but not religious in any way[…] Keep reading →

First, the New York Times’ clickbait headlines for the Ethicist column. Clickbait means an article promises something sensational but doesn’t deliver. A sensational headline is fine for a sensational story, but the Ethicist column nearly always has sensational headlines while the questions are generally humdrum. More precise than “sensational,” the headlines provoke outrage and make you want to give a piece of your mind to the question the headline suggests[…] Keep reading →