Moral Guidance

So John Terry has been sacked as the England football captain. I'm afraid that I don't read the tabloid press and I don't particularly want to but I have managed to gather that he has been playing away more than he has been playing at home. I don't know what his wife thinks about this. I don't know what anyone connected to the breaking of his marriage vows thinks about it although there may be a great deal written. However I have managed to read that the health minister Mike O'Brien has feels that the decision to take away the captaincy is 'crass'. It doesn't seem to matter that he has to command the respect of his players. I don't know whether he does or he doesn't and I would suggest neither does Mr O'Brien.

If you are a public figure then the press will say what they want regardless of what you would like to see in print. It is not possible to isolate football playing from off-field activities. Having said that there is a very strong argument that what John Terry does on the pitch has nothing to do with what he does off it. My problem with this is that we are saying morals don't matter for role models or for any individual. It's alright to do what you like even if you hurt others as long as you do your job well. We may not want people in the public eye to break the law but a good role model does so much more than stay within legal boundaries.

If anyone wants to comment that it really doesn't matter what high profile people do then you are saying that it really doesn't matter what anyone does. Where does moral guidance come from?

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