The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-10-12
THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE.

pAAUSOpulC Qu6SLlOuS Oh SUCH LrGm6uu-
GUS import to serious-minded people
as the moral responsibility of man.
No matter how skeptical one may be
in regard to dogmas and creeds, says
Father Blanchat of Detroit, the sane,
level-headed thinker and observer
must acknowledge that there is first
cause, and an eternal power and di-
vinity swaying the lives of men, and
further, that there is an eternal law
written in the consciences of mortals,
binding on all nations and ages.
This power of mind by which the
moral law is discovered to each indi-
vidual for the guidance of his conduct
is what we are wont to call consci-
ence. 1t has been variously described,
with more or less accuracy, as the
voice of God in our hearts, an immor-
tai and celestial voice enabling us to
distinguish good from evil, divine
light or principle placed within us to
guide and enlighten us as regards our
duties
Conscience is the essential requisite
for the direction of an intelligent
free-will agent, and affords the basis
for moral obligations and responsible
ity in human life. While creating us
reasonable beings, God naturally gave
us the faculty to know His law and
His will. This sense of right and
wrong implanted in human nature by
God approves men when they live
loyal to the right as they know it, and
it condemns them when they disobey
the law which they believe is right.
Conscience is supreme. It's author
ity cannot be gainsaid. We must al
ways hear and obey with a willing
mind the small, still voice." Our
way of acting may not be absolutely,
but only relatively right, but if con-
science dictates it, that is the only
course to follow: we must do what
seems to us to be right.
A thoroughly good conscience can
be found with wretchedly poor intel
lect, whereas a very miserable and
perverse conscience may accompany
a very bright intelligence. There are
those who call evil good, whose light
has become darkness and whose con-
science is dead.
VOltaire and Rousseau, while intel
lectually two of the brightest geniuses
of modern times, we're almost totally
devoid of the moral sense. The his
tory of Rome and Athens teaches us
that knowledge without conscience,
beauty without holiness, eloquence
without morality, can only be produc-
tive of the stencil and rottenness of
the sepulchre.
There is no sin in ignorance or error
which is unavoidable. The idea we
form of the morality of our acts is
greatly Influenced and warped by
heredity, early education, tempera-
ment, character, social surroundings
and intellectual development. So that
many whose sincerity and integrity
cannot be questioned are often placed
in a position where it is impossible
for them to see clearly or rightly
grasp the truth
Every one of course is bound to do
his best to enlighten and develop his
conscience that it may be for him a
true and reliable guide. Meanwhile,
though our conscience is not infallible,
and may not rightly discern the true
from the false, we, as I said, must in
every case do that which according to
the light within us seems the best to
be done, than which there is no better
possible to anyone.
Seeing that the moral faculty is not
always an unerring rule of conduct,
it is easily understood why God in His
infinite wisdom instituted a superior
and infallible organ which we call the
Church, to enlighten and rectify when
necessary, the human conscience.
But while making laws and pro-
pounding dogmas, the Church in no
way arbitrarily coerces it's members
by enslaving their conscience. She
faithfully hands down anderson
will tell you it must be so-infallibly
S~% 80 Sn4
which never can initiate against the
innate moral sense.
Therefore, far from being lessened
or suppressed, the rights, liberty and
conscience of the Christian are
strengthened, redressed and upheld
by Revelation and Church teaching.
The authoritative voice of the Church
is not substituted for the deep-abiding
voice of conscience, but unites itself
to the latter to give it more efficacy
and precision.
No Catholic ever blindly abdicates
his Judgment or servile1y surrenders
his conscience to the authority of the
Roman See. Revealed religion and
ecclesiastical supremacy cannot take
away the obligations of the natural
moral law or the authority of con
their integrity and rendered easier in
the fulfilling by the infallible teaching
of divine institution, which unites
in a perfect manner liberty and au
thority, progress and conservatism.
We often hear the expression social
or civic conscience Strictly speaking
there is no such thing. There is nc
corporate reason or collective judg
ment. Men are personal. They have
individuality. But they have beer
placed in social relations with the
race and they must exercise their in
dividual Judgment for it's welfare.
It is this sense of duty to fellowmar
which prompts the heroism of the
soldier who sacrifices his own life tt
make life worth living for his coun
trymen in the fatherland. 1t is thi.
so-called social conscience that die
tateS the drty of the fireman fha shin