The Thornbirds is not a love story.

Has anyone ever read the Thornbirds or watched the movie? It is about a priest, Father Ralph, who sleeps with a woman who he knew as a child. The child, Meggie, grows up and falls in love with him and eventually seduces him. She has his child and doesn't tell Father Ralph about his son until after he died. Nobody ever finds out about their affair, and Father Ralph goes on to be a cardinal with his son by his side because his son becomes a priest.

I was a kid when I watched the movie and a teen when I read the book. I grew up Protestant and never knew any priests when I read the book and watched the movie. This story was really passionate and exciting. I watched the movie and thought that the actress who played Meggie, the woman from the Thornbirds, was really beautiful. I was hoping that when I grew up that I would look like her. I also thought that the actors who played the priest and the priest's son were really handsome. The only thing that bothered me about the book was that Meggie was mean to her daughter, who's father was her ex-husband. Other than that it was a great love story, especially when Meggie was a kid and Father Ralph, the priest in the book, was a substitute father to her.

Now that I am a grown-up and have been in a romantic relationship and have met a priest, I don't think that this story is a love story anymore. When you truly love someone, you place that person's desires and wants ahead of your own. Meggie acted very selfishly by seducing Father Ralph knowing how much his career meant to him and that he would lose it and his reputation, if people ever found out about it. (Of course this is fairy tale land and nobody figures it out). Losing everything that he worked for would hurt Father Ralph, but Meggie still slept with him to fulfill her own desires. Meggie may have loved Father Ralph, but her lust for him turned that love into selfishness.

Father Ralph is just as guilty. He knew that he didn't want to leave the priesthood for Meggie or anyone else, but he still slept with her. Meggie left her husband after she and Father Ralph had sex. Meggie never remarried, but continued coveting Father Ralph. If Father Ralph really cared about Meggie, he would put aside his own desires and encourage Meggie to move on, rather than encouraging her to keep waiting around for him. One thing that the book should have covered was the guilt Father Ralph must have felt telling priests and single people to remain chaste, while he is screwing around. Guilt never happens in fairy tale land.

Both of them were stupid and selfish for not thinking about the child that they may be creating and did make before they had sex. I suppose those thoughts always ruin one's mood for lovemaking in soap opera land. Then Meggie didn't think that it was wrong for her to lie to her son about who his dad is. Then this son had to grow up without his father or any man in his life because his parents desired people they couldn't have and thinking only of themselves gave into their lust. The Thornbirds is more of a self-love story than a romantic story.

I was reading some of the comments on the Thornbirds on Amazon.com and Youtube and all that I could think about was the priest who I know. He really loves being a priest, and he is a really wonderful person. The worst thing in the world would be for me to see him in pain, knowing that I caused it. If I did something that ruined his reputation and caused him to lose his career, which means so much to him, it would take a long time for me to forgive myself. It would really hurt him if he had a child who he couldn't see or help raise. This priest who I know cares about my faith in God so much that he would NEVER even suggest that we have a sexual relationship knowing that he would never leave the priesthood for me and that his actions would cause me to lose my faith again.

Personally, I feel that me and the priest I know is a better love story than Meggie and Father Ralph, even though we are not in love with each other. Now our relationship would not be exciting to watch on TV because we just sit around and talk about God and never touch each other, but we really care about one another, which is more than what I can say about Meggie and Father Ralph.