Fidelity, Relationships and finding happiness

I sometimes wonder why fidelity in relationships is an imperative: why it is better to leave an unhappy couple to their misery than to interfere, break them up and possibly even usurp their relationship.

50% of all marriages end in divorce; it could be that they weren't meant together in the first place, or circumstances have forced them apart, or they change and no longer love each other. This is not to say that marriage is a bad thing, or that it cannot work, simply that some marriages fail for one reason or another.


My problem for today is whether or not is it wrong to disrupt or interfere with a relationship when the motives of the one disrupting aren't pure.


To be more specific and less ambiguous: what if I am attracted to a married woman who isn't happy, and I attempt to get her to be unfaithful. Is it wrong to destroy her marriage in order to increase both of our happiness? They may or may not work out their problems regardless, but what if it's my firm belief that she will be happier with me than with him?


I would like to take this opportunity to say that this is completely hypothetical; I currently have no desire to move in on any girlfriends or wives that I am acquainted with.


I can imagine this situation arising though - an unhappy marriage and a belief that a woman would be happier with me than with another. Is it right to "trade in for a better model"? Can any relationship reach the same level of happiness as any other if they work hard enough?


I have no answers today. It's right to desire happiness and greater happiness in our relationships. And it's wrong to break up a couple for your own selfish motives. But isn't it also wrong to sit back and watch a bad relationship continue, even if your motives aren't entirely altruistic?


This subject deserves greater contemplation. I'll be back for seconds another day.