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Love it. Probably the best example, and it's good to examine these limit cases.
I agree you have a special moral relationship to your children, as you made the choice to give them consciousness.
I'm an antinatalist, so I don't think we should have children. Having children is creating the (near certain) potential for (significant) suffering without the consent of the sufferer.
Apart from your unique responsibility to them because you chose to give them consciousness, your children are not owed any more of your moral "duty" than any other child. That you feel you owe them more is just a result of biology and culture.
There is no moral difference between your child and some child on the other side of the globe. Both are having a conscious experience and are capable of suffering & happiness.
If you want to participate in morality, which is engaging in the process of having positive effects on the conscious experiences of others, then you'll recognize privileging family and friends over strangers, even enemies, is nothing more than an evolutionary survival strategy with a little fondness of familiarity on top. It's utterly Self-centered, amoral, and leads to many problems.
I'm a selfish coward. That's the plain language for what I am based on what I'm doing.
I should give my resources, at least above subsistence, to save the lives of starving children. That is the correct moral action.
I am a coward for failing to do so. That is, I am too scared to proceed with what I have reasoned is morally right.
And my fear is based on my desire to preserve the Self. I am selfish. Obsessed with Self, to the point I will let children starve rather than deny my Self.
Using less plain and direct language is just a tactic people use to preserve their delusions.
It's lying.
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