by Joseph Wardy

Created on: December 02, 2010   Last Updated: December 03, 2010

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the answer to that question is yes? And in some family situations, the passion of the color red representing blood is undaunted and cannot be challenges by the world.

Until recently, I believed that blood is thicker than water. Now, I have been a witness of many people telling me that conflict in family is common, particularly as it applies to entitlement as it relates to inheritance.

A funny thing happened on the way to love, loyalty and commitment as it relates to blood. It is the almighty power of money. The Bible states that "money is the root of all evil". This teaching can be challenged as it is what we do with money that determines if evil dominates.

In many cases, this is the case as siblings use the legal system to dislodge the blood and turn into the icy water within the veins. People keen to the legal way are clever in their way of manipulating the system to their advantage. Case in point: People can make decisions about money that are morally wrong but legally right.

Why would a sibling cheat another sibling out an inheritance? There are potentially many reasons. One main reason can be the sense of entitlement one sibling may have. This can be attributed to how they were raised as parents can influence children into believing they are entitled to more than is reasonable. In other cases, entitlement is a result of one sibling feeling that they did more for the parent when the parent was alive. The degree of weight in that argument depends on circumstances, how the will was written and the decision of the judge if the matter gores to court.  

The second primary reason is flat out greed. To some people, all the money in the world would not be enough. We see it with professional athlete contracts as well astronomical sums of money paid musicians and actors. Weren't the cast members of Friends paid one million dollars an episode? Greed exists with blood as well.

Greed along with anger and ignorance are the chief factors related to suffering according to the Buddha. There frequently is no blood when greed enters the fray. With no blood there is no life left to the relationship. The greed of money has cut off any chance of reviving the potential beauty of a  sibling relationship!

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