Moral conscience

[cappie]

Moral conscience

THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE IS not Jiminy Cricket chirping away on Pinocchio’s shoulder, nor is it an angel and a devil whispering in my ear. Conscience is not apart from me. It is at work within me, at the depth of my experience as a person. It calls me to do good and avoid evil. Yet it seems to be apart from me in terms of judging what I do. In practice conscience is my moral judgement.

This is spelt out in a definition in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“Conscience is a judgement of reason whereby the human person recognises the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed.” (CCC, 1778)

A ‘judgement of reason’ is not a feeling or hunch. A man may say, “It felt so right to leave the wife and kids and move in with her,” but that may later lead to, “I felt it was right at the time, but I’m not sure now...” This is exactly why ‘following your heart’ can be a recipe for disaster. Conscience is meant to involve following your head and being rational, even if it may be influenced by emotions or expressed as a feeling.

The Catechism definition states that conscience covers “the moral quality of a concrete act.” That is, recognising whether a thought, word or deed is right or wrong. The definition goes on to cover the future, the present and the past.
Most conscience issues involve a moral judgement about an act that someone “is going to perform.” In a typical situation, a person may ask, “Is what I am going to do right or wrong?” In times of temptation, moral choice, even dilemma, we are called to make prudent moral judgements.

More immediate situations may involve an act that someone “is in the process of performing.” A doubt may suddenly spring to mind: “Should I really be doing this?” Or, “This does not feel right!” The ‘feeling’ expresses a moral sense, but the ‘should I?’ draws on the rational basis of conscience.

Conscience also covers acts that a person “has already completed.” That is, it is retrospective. In the Catholic practice known as an ‘examination of conscience,’ I review what I have done to discern whether it was right or wrong. If, in my considered moral judgement, I acted wrongly, then I am called to contrition and, in the case of serious sin, bound to confess the sin in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Because conscience deals with human behaviour, moral reasoning is not the same as mathematics. It has its own logic, but it can be prey to irrational factors – emotions, passions, tastes, pressures. Conscience does not work automatically. It can be mistaken, and this raises the problem of an erroneous conscience.

Yet we are bound to follow our conscience’ even if it is wrong – but that presupposes sincerity. In cases of ‘invincible ignorance’ a person cannot know that the act in question is wrong. In other cases involving a working conscience, further information may lead to a new understanding of issues and a change of heart. This is why conscience always needs to be formed, first of all by practice. Exercising one’s conscience is like training for a sport, playing an instrument or learning a skill like cooking. A lazy conscience is one that has been exercised rarely. This is why children should be helped to educate their consciences by exercising them often and by discussing moral issues.

Western individualism has produced the dangerous myth of an imperial conscience, independent, autonomous, self-contained – “No one can tell me how to live!” But a conscience is not a sealed-off system. We live as social beings, made for one another. Each of us needs to be informed by trustworthy moral authorities around us, above all in the community of faith. Here we find a rich ethical heritage, clear moral guidance and thousands of years of pastoral experience.

Through conscience, the natural moral law within us calls us to do good and avoid evil. But, just as we learn tables and mathematical formulae, we need specific guidance on how to do good and avoid evil. This is found in the Ten Commandments, understood in the light of the Beatitudes of Jesus and His New Commandment of Love. These precepts are applied and interpreted in the moral teachings of the Church. So guidance is always available to form our conscience.

As one eminent authority put it, “You cannot always trust your watch to work perfectly; you need to check it from time to time against the radio.” Yet, even in the Church we hear some say, “Just follow your conscience.” That little word, ‘just,’ is merely a code for “do what you choose.”

In any serious situation, to ‘follow your conscience’ is no simple matter. It requires careful thought, consulting good moral authorities and, above all, prayer. In the final analysis, if I sincerely listen to my conscience, I can hear God speaking to me.

By Mgr Peter Elliott

[url="http://www.kairos.com.au/currentissued.asp?ID=1853"] SOURCE[/url]

[Thy Geekdom Come]

It works both ways...scrupulants often "feel" that something is wrong but can't rationalize the feeling. Their conscience isn't against them, their feelings are.

[missionseeker]

I t bugs when me when people say "well you follow your conscience and I'll follow mine"