(The Nationalist, 15 December 2006)
In 1949, in the Irish Republic, there was 1 murder, 2 armed robberies, and 16 car thefts. The number of prisoners was less than a quarter of what it is today, and the number of prisons a third. You would have more than one murder now in an average week, and there are 52 weeks in a year! I heard a Gárda superintendent say in the Fifties that the main problem the Gárda Síochána had was the theft of bicycles. It all seems like something from another world – and, in a way, it was.
By way of contrast, in the USA, between the years 1980 and 2000, the number of murders fell by almost one-third. Rising rates of murder are not, it seems, an inseparable feature of modern life. So where have we gone wrong?
One factor seems to be the loss of conscience, replaced by an arbitrary self-will that refuses to look beyond the self. Think of how often we hear, or use, sentences that begin with the words, ‘I don’t care…’
Many things in our society point to an underdeveloped, weak, or suffocated conscience: –
- naïve ideas about human goodness, despite the twentieth century being the most violent in human history;
- the most popular videos in TV rental shops are those on violence and sex;
- 80% of babies born to women under 26 in Ireland are out of wedlock;
- one baby in 12 conceived in Ireland, and one in 4 conceived by a single mother is aborted;
- fraudulent claims for insurance, social welfare, and accident compensation are seen as subject to only one condition – whether you can get away with them;
- lying is excused and condoned by necessity, public relations, toeing a party line, etc. with the TV soaps leading by example;
- in court cases, it’s clear that perjury is commonplace.
Many other examples will readily come to mind.
Conscience is not “doing your own thing” in the name of personal freedom, subject to every fancy, fashion, or fad that comes along. That is arbitrary, selective and individualistic. It is not an easy option, but demands that we:
- make a genuine effort to educate ourselves, to overcome ignorance;
- fight habits of sin that stifle conscience or blind us to its claims;
- work through the difficult and differing demands that conscience makes of us in a situation;
- face difficult choices, and be willing to be held to account for them;
- seriously consider the effect of our decisions on others;
- be prepared to go against the current of public opinion and stand alone if necessary;
- be prepared to go against our self-will, or our selfishness – the most difficult challenge of all.
Conscience needs to be formed by, and, in turn, to inform, the faith and life of the Christian community. It recognizes that all truth is God’s truth, however it is mediated. Our humanity requires that we respond to the call to do good and avoid evil.
Conscience brings us face to face with God and with the self:
- it makes us mature human beings, responsible and accountable, without self-deception;
- it makes us free, because ‘the truth shall make you free’;
- it makes for good human relationships, good health of soul, mind and body.
For those in a hurry: ‘Happiness is joy in the truth.’ (Saint Augustine)