Editing is definitely not unethical (making a deceptive photo can be unethical, but it is also easy to deceive in-camera, it's the deceiving part that makes it unethical not the editing)

There are two very different types of photography - there are photos that are intended to show what something really look like (photojournalism, pictures for eBay listings, etc.) and there is art.

For photojournalism anything that distorts reality is unethical and anything that shows reality is ethical - even if it's the same operation in Photoshop - color correction is ethical but changing colors isn't, cropping to remove blank space is ethical but cropping to hide something isn't - you get the idea.

For art, well, there aren't any rules for art - do whatever feels right for you.

But think, does blurring the background by changing the aperture ok? does making the picture intentionally darker by changing shutter speed ok? does changing the relative brightness by adding flash ok? your photo is already "edited" by the choices you make when you shoot, why is editing by changing camera settings ok but editing on the computer is suddenly wrong?

So, editing in not unethical but you don't have to edit if you don't want to.

You said you are a very basic level photographer, at that level you should learn to control your photos using the camera better and not rely on excessive editing but I guess that when you get better you will come to appreciate that just a little editing can turn a good picture into a great one (and that making great pictures is a good an ethical thing to do)