(UNDATED) Last week, a suspect was arrested in New York for fatally beating an immigrant. As the 28-year-old suspect confessed, he made this chilling comment: “So I killed someone; that makes me a bad guy?”

Is such moral obtuseness a limited occurrence, or is it symptomatic of a societal disease cultivated by our age?

As spectators watched lions devour early Christians in Rome’s Coliseum, turning murder into sport, did they know it was wrong? “So we’re watching them kill people,” they might have said. “Does that make us bad guys?”

Now here’s where it gets tricky: Are viewers of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” a contemporary pop cultural equivalent of Romans in the Coliseum? Are we desensitized to the wrongness of reducing love and marriage to a reality-TV spectacle? By watching, are we complicit in the cheapening of something sacred?

For those who have not participated in this particular aspect of Western civilization’s decline, allow me to educate you. Here’s how ABC describes the recently completed season of “The Bachelor”: “Jason Mesnick, a handsome divorced single dad, will star in his own bid for true love, choosing from among 25 bachelorettes.”

In a previous season of the twin series “The Bachelorette,” Mesnick dropped to one knee to profess his love for Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas, only to be passed over by Pappas in favor of a happy-go-lucky snowboarder.

This year, the season finale was set in New Zealand — because, you know, in this version of “reality,” one selects a life partner 10,000 miles away from the normalcy of family, friends, work and everyday life.

This is where Mesnick is given his second chance for love (or is it revenge?), amid the steamy hot tub scenes and titillating make-out sessions.

One by one, women who have professed their love for Jason are rejected until only two were left: Melissa and Molly. Well, actually there’s three. To keep it interesting, ABC brings back DeAnna, the saucy vixen who rejected Mesnick the first time and has since rejected the snowboarder.

I don’t watch this show — really! — but I did see what was described as one of the most romantic episodes ever. Jason rejected Pappas, asked Melissa to marry him, and the heartbroken Molly warned Jason that he was making a big mistake.

But the plot thickens (it always does).

Things aren’t working out with Melissa; the passion is just not there, the chemistry is all wrong. All Jason can think about is Molly. Host Chris Harrison reassures the remorseful Jason, “I know you well enough to know that you’re a good guy.”

Emboldened by this affirmation of his essential goodness, Jason informs Melissa that it is over, confessing he has fallen in love with two people at the same time and must pursue Molly, his one true love. He really means it this time.

So I broke somebody’s heart on national TV. That makes me a bad guy?

Melissa asks a few questions as she tries to process it all. “You bastard!” she finally blurts out. “Why did you put a ring on my finger?”

Molly returns. Jason asks for another chance. She gives it. Everyone glows. The host thanks us for watching a “historic journey.” Cue happily-ever-after.

Four years ago, my mother died, leaving behind a grieving husband who had lost the love of his life. Last week, dad’s arthritis got so bad in his ring finger that the doctors made him cut off the wedding band that had been on his hand for 61 years.

Marriage is a commitment to have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part. The ring is a perfect unbroken circle, made of precious metal symbolizing the highest value placed on this commitment.

So far, there have been 17 pairings in the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise, and only one has resulted in a marriage. This season’s sterling example of integrity, Jason, is now on his fourth ring (he gave one to his first wife, selected one for Pappas when he proposed to her, then another one for Melissa and now will need one for Molly).

So we watch “The Bachelor.” Does that make us bad?

(Dick Staub is the author of “The Culturally Savvy Christian” and the host of The Kindlings Muse (http://www.thekindlings.com). His blog can be read at http://www.dickstaub.com)