Someone once told me that more wrong has been done in the name of love than was right done in the name of love. The simple fact is that most people will want to have families and most people will want to have children. And this is better done within the context of a relationship where the parties love one another than one in which they do not.
I have known a number of couples in World War II generation who started their marriages with love at first sight and keep going strong even though the couples are in their 90s. The World War II generation is the most respected generation in history. They are rational and responsible enough. And none of them see love as something irrational or irresponsible.
I was once on a site for followers of the movie The Crow, and there was a message sent there that not all love is holy. Mine very much is. I left quite a nice setup in America to marry an Australian woman. I have always been good to her, and I have always been good to our daughter. When she left me to be with another man, I didn’t become her enemy; I continued treating her well. My daughter is doing well, and she has the attention of two loving parents.
So there were many in baby boom generation for whom love did not work out. These people then decided that something was wrong with love, and they decided that love is irrational or unrealistic. In fact love worked out very well for their parents, and they in likewise believing in love did not believe in anything irrational or unrealistic. Once again, it worked for their parents. And their parents’ generation, unlike them, has not been accused of generational narcissism.
Have wrong things been done in the name of love? Wrong things have been done in the name of anything that carries appeal. Wrong things have been done in the name of reason. Wrong things have been done in the name of Christianity. Wrong things have been done in the name of survival or status or wealth. Wrong things have been done in the name of moral values such as altruism and patriotism. Wrong things have been done in the name of beauty, intelligence and spirituality. That something can be used for wrong does not make it wrong in itself. What we see here is a confusion between the value and the misuses of the value.
Love, as such, is beautiful. However it does not always work out. Some people disappointed in love soothe their feelings by going to love-hating ideologies. That may soothe their feelings, but it is poison to society. Love has been practiced successfully by people more rational and responsible than themselves, especially the World War II generation. And it is to them that people need to look up for guidance on the matter.