More on morality

Aesop's Fables have long been the harbinger of morality. Tales like the Fox and the Hound, the Mouse and the Lion and many others have long been the source of inspiration for the "virtues" of courage, friendship, loyalty, returning good for good. Now it is reasonable to ask why I would put virtues in quotations, thus casting an aspersion on the quantitative valuation of the following traits. And that was quite deliberate. You see, although these traits are assumed to be universally admired and valuable, as shown in the preface to Aesop's Fables, that is not necessarily true.
Friendship...how can anyone question that? Yet at times friendship can be costly as it causes crises of other moralities. Not too long ago I wrote about Step Up (2006), the Save the Last Dance rework in which interracial love causes a crisis of friendship...or at least contributes to it. In this case the hero has a future, having been accepted to...was it Georgetown? But his "homie" wants him to go on a drive-by revenge shooting. He calls on their long time friendship and uses it as a test of loyalty. Torn between that friendship and his girlfriend's need to have him at her audition, he initially plans to go on the shooting. In the name of friendship. Even though he has spoken against that lifestyle for virtually the entire movie. Now, certainly this is a choice only in a fictional movie...but the point stands.
History shows numerous instances of people performing acts most people would call morally reprehensible in the name of friendship. How does one choose between loyalty and friendship and morality? We would like to think some common sense would apply but sometimes there is no easy answer.
The oft and aptly criticized "situational ethics" strikes me as such an attempt, a desire to reconcile the sometimes unreconcilable. Maybe there are times when there is no easy or even right answer. Is morality a moving target? Is it something that changes with the times? Is there just one authoritative source for it?
I have my own answer for these questions. Perhaps you do as well. I think it is important to remember the answer is not the same for everyone. Should it be? That is another question.