There’s a great book on Watergate by Garret Graff. In the introduction, Graff perfectly describes how all moral failures occur:
As time would make clear, the actions around the Watergate scandal were certainly criminal, and there was without a doubt a conspiracy, but labelling it all a “criminal conspiracy” implies a level of forethought, planning, and precise execution that isn’t actually evident at any stage of the debacle. Instead, the key players slipped, fumbled, and stumbled their way from the White House to prison, often without ever seeming to make a conscious decisions to join the cover-up.
No one decides, “I’m going to blow up my career or family today.” It starts with a small moral compromise. And then another follows…and another…and another. And then, when you look back, your career is ruined, and your family hates you.
I was reminded of this when Jash Dholani posted an excerpt from his book, Hit Reverse, with a quote from C.S. Lewis:
The most terrifying thing about the road to hell is how uneventful and gentle it is. A small compromise, a tiny sin, a fleeting moment of cowardice…repeated over a lifetime…and you’re in hell. C.S. Lewis: “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slop, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
The problem with the road to hell is that there are no signs that say you’re on the road to hell.