Conscience: Being True to Ourselves

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ConscienceBeing True to Ourselves

• Created by Michael Cheney
• Chapter 4

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Prelection Agree/Disagree

• All human beings are equal before the law and
  should be treated equally
• Some humans, because of their special needs,
  deserve better treatment than others.
• Even people without religion need some
  consistent, personal ethical code.

• A societys ethical code can be objectively
  wrong, at least in some areas.
• Breaking the law of a legitimately constituted
  democratic society is immoral.
• Genuine conscience comes from socialization from
  parents, peers, media, and society

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• Man gifted with conscience, intelligence and
  power is needed a centercalled to go out of
  himselfto give himself to others. Only he who
  loves fully realizes himself as a man.
• Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

What does he mean by a CENTER?
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Is this your motto?

• Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud
• - Sophocles

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• A mans action is only a picture book of his
  creed
• Ralph Waldo Emerson

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• In matters of conscience, the law of the majority
  has no place
• Mohondas Ghandi

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Prelection

• What images are used most frequently to depict
  conscience?

Hilary Duffs The Little Voice The little voice
in my head won't let me forgetThe little voice
in my head is never misledAll of this noise is
what keeps me from making a messThe little voice
in my head just won't let me get with you
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Learning Outcomes

• Students will
• Understand that God (Scripture Church teaching)
  requires us to follow our conscience
• Recognize that the popular uses of conscience are
  frequently inadequate to describe the term
• Realize that conscience includes awareness,
  development, and judgment

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The Nature of Conscience

• An essential characteristic of heroism is being
  true to ones conscience

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Activity

• Think of and invite 5 great people of history,
  living or dead, real or fictional, to this
  classroom.
• What character traits do these people possess
  that lead you to invite them here?
• Are any of these people heroes or merely
  celebrities?
• What can we learn about following your conscience
  from any of these people? What would that message
  be?

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"The struggle against injustice and the pursuit
of truth cannot be separated nor can one work
for one independent of the other." Ignatio
Ellacuría, S.J. -
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Descriptions of Conscience

• Should people always follow their conscience?
• Read case studies on p. 63, and identify the
  variety of ways that conscience is defined.

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Discussion Questions

• Is Jen following her conscience? Why or why not?
  Is understanding conscience as an inner voice
  adequate? What problems result from this
  understanding?

• What problems result if we define conscience as
  upbringing as Mick does?
• Is Darrells feeling response the result of
  conscience? Why is seeing conscience as
  feelings a too narrow understanding of
  conscience?

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• Conscience is not

Hilary Duffs The Little Voice The little voice
in my head won't let me forgetThe little voice
in my head is never misledAll of this noise is
what keeps me from making a messThe little voice
in my head just won't let me get with you
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Superego vs Conscience

• Id
• Ego
• Superego (little voice)
• Temporary conscience from parents, significant
  adults, media, religion, schooling
• Is both accurate and inaccurate
• Needs to be examined and edited

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Summary
Upbringing
Inner Voice
Conscience is NOT
Feelings
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Group Talk

• Describe a television show, movie, or novel that
  depicts a person facing a crisis of conscience,
  what choices does the person make?
• Is conscience applied in a similar way to or
  different from the ways the term is described in
  the text?

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Catechism 1796

• Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the
  human person recognizes the moral quality of a
  concrete act.

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Conscience (p. 66)

• We dont decide what conscience dictates we
  discover it
• Conscience is our moral-decision ability (or
  action).
• It involves
• An awareness of right and wrong
• A process of discernment, and
• A judgment

Handout 42 Conscience or Not Conscience?
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Jerrys Problem

• If you were a member of a peer-counseling team at
  Jerrys school and he came to you for help, what
  advice would you give him?

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Differentiate

• Lax Conscience
• No employment of conscientious decision-making
• Erroneous Conscience
• A conscience that judges wrongly
• Informed conscience
• A conscience that is educated developed through
  constant use examination

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Reflection

• Describe a moral dilemma that you or someone you
  know has faced.
• Evaluate the process used to arrive at a decision
  in terms of the 3 dimensions of conscience
• Awareness of right and wrong
• Formation of Conscience
• Making a judgment

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Dr. Myra RossList survivors in the order of
preferential treatment. What were your
motivesfor each choice?

• The war that ended the world had been over for a
  week. In a subway station in Arlington,
  Virginia, Dr. Myra Ross tried to calm herself.
  Since the bombs there had been no communication.
  She couldnt remember anything about atomic
  half-life. There were only a dozen people left
  on the platform the rest were stacked in the
  tunnel.
• The water was untrustworthy. They had used a
  fire ax to open coin machines for food and soft
  drinks, but they were nearly gone. Fortunately,
  Myra had been on call before shed met her
  husband, Art, and her disabled daughter, Joy, for
  dinner, and her medical bag had been stocked. No
  one could guess how long theyd be there.
• One of Myras charges was the secretary of
  state, whose chauffeur had gotten him, his wife,
  and their daughter into the subway at the sound
  of the sirens. Another was Dr. Chiarello, the
  last ever Nobelist for physics. He was cheerful,
  despite the braces on his legs.
• The others included a black mechanic named
  Jesse, who had taken his six-year-old son and
  pregnant wife to the Vietnam Memorial to see the
  names of men hed known. Mrs. Appleton at sixty
  was healthy but complained every waking moment.
  Marty Reiser, second-string Redskins
  quarterback, had had his legs smashed and was
  delirious. Myra was sure Martys date was a
  pickup, but Cyndi had been of great help
  tending the wounded. Finally, Myras husband,
  Art, was a recovering alcoholic, showed signs of
  strain.
• Because Myra was the only one with any real
  power left, the group had elected her to choose
  who would get food to eat and who should be
  limited to the drinks.

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Conscience

• The Splendor of Truth (JPII)
• Conscience cannot be divorced from Jesus
• Conscience takes the Churchs teachings seriously
  in discernment and judgment
• The teaching of the magisterium holds a
  privileged place as source of moral guidance.