Saw this sign at my granddaughters pre-school graduation last night.. I loved the message! Do you think that most of us at some inner level really know the right thing to do.. most of the time? I think that most of us call it having a conscience.. and most of us understand that it is never a good idea to betray your conscience.
I wonder if the idea of conscience is just a part of being conscious? Maybe having a conscience somewhat defines what it means to being human? Animals domesticated by humans seem to exhibit this trait of conscience sometimes but I am not sure that animals in the wild have this sense of doing the right thing and treating others right.
What do you think? Does conscience define human consciousness?
1. Conscience does NOT define human consciousness. A psychopath or sociopath, a profoundly handicapped person or a needy baby have no conscience but are all conscious of the world around them, to varying degrees and accuracy, and are all people of equal dignity and worth, as far as the Constitution is concerned.
ReplyDelete2. Conscience does NOT define human consciousness. A dog or most social animals show guilt when they do something they know is "wrong." But it's a taught conscience. Interesting, when you think about it, that they can learn something of value to their pack status.
3. Conscience DOES define humanity. If we believe God when He says He has written His law on our hearts (what theologians call "natural law") then we know that that's what makes us human. That's how we know a sociopath is one; he ignores or can't act upon what is natural in the general population.
These days, this discussion has been largely hijacked by the "death with dignity" and "abortion of the Downs person is best" crowd. If you are not conscious, or you will be a sinless child in your mind all your life, then you have no dignity and would probably prefer to be killed/never to have been born.
Great thoughts TZ!
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