Conscience
Years ago, when I was still a Protestant, I attended a panel discussion at my school on the topic of homosexuality. One woman, a mother of a lesbian, and a professed Catholic, said that a topic that the Catholic Church does not like to bring up concerning homosexuality is that of conscience. Since the Church teaches that we should obey our conscience, and for some, and participating in the homosexual lifestyle is in accord to ones conscience, one should continue being homosexual. This clearly would make some Catholics uncomfortable. So, what's going on here?
First, terms. Conscience is our judgment of what is right and wrong, and it is our only contact with the moral realm. This is why we must always obey our conscience, because to disobey our conscience is to disobey what we judge to be right. It is saying that we will to do evil, and we should never will to do evil.
If conscience is a judgment of what is right and wrong, it is possible that our judgments can be incorrect. It may be incorrect for a number of reasons, maybe I was misinformed through no fault of my own, maybe I willed to be ignorant, or something. But I know that my judgments have not always been perfect, and I grow and learn from my mistakes. So, our consciences can be misinformed.
Now, here is the relevant question. Should a misinformed conscience still be obeyed? Yes, for the same reason any conscience should be obeyed, however, this does not always excuse you, for we have a duty to properly inform our consciences. The mother at the panel presupposed this by showing up to speak so that she may educate and try to inform the consciences of others. This is why we takes classes in ethics. This is why we listen and learn from opposing viewpoints.
For the mother, and her lesbian daughter who I also presume is Catholic, one way to properly form the conscience is through learning what the Catholic Church teaches on the subject. And what the Catholic Church teaches on it is pretty clear: it is, in itself, a sin. So, the appeal to conscience for a Catholic against the Catholic Church wouldn't work, since her conscience must be informed by the Church which she pledges obedience to through Christ.
While an appeal to conscience excuses our personal blame, it doesn't make the act not sinful. Someone may mistakenly believe that there is no wrongdoing in demolishing a building granted he were ignorant to the fact that there were still people inside, but the lack of wrongdoing is in reference to the personal blame, not to the act itself. The act itself, killing people, is still wrong. Likewise, homosexuality in itself is still wrong, conscience can only excuse you from personal blame if you are ignorant of something. Or consider if the demolition man purposely decided not to check if there were people in the building, even if he knew it would be a good idea to check, but didn't because he just didn't want to badly enough. Maybe he wanted to go home early. This chosen ignorance does not excuse him. Likewise, for this woman and her daughter, there is no excused ignorance, and no proper appeal to conscience.
First, terms. Conscience is our judgment of what is right and wrong, and it is our only contact with the moral realm. This is why we must always obey our conscience, because to disobey our conscience is to disobey what we judge to be right. It is saying that we will to do evil, and we should never will to do evil.
If conscience is a judgment of what is right and wrong, it is possible that our judgments can be incorrect. It may be incorrect for a number of reasons, maybe I was misinformed through no fault of my own, maybe I willed to be ignorant, or something. But I know that my judgments have not always been perfect, and I grow and learn from my mistakes. So, our consciences can be misinformed.
Now, here is the relevant question. Should a misinformed conscience still be obeyed? Yes, for the same reason any conscience should be obeyed, however, this does not always excuse you, for we have a duty to properly inform our consciences. The mother at the panel presupposed this by showing up to speak so that she may educate and try to inform the consciences of others. This is why we takes classes in ethics. This is why we listen and learn from opposing viewpoints.
For the mother, and her lesbian daughter who I also presume is Catholic, one way to properly form the conscience is through learning what the Catholic Church teaches on the subject. And what the Catholic Church teaches on it is pretty clear: it is, in itself, a sin. So, the appeal to conscience for a Catholic against the Catholic Church wouldn't work, since her conscience must be informed by the Church which she pledges obedience to through Christ.
While an appeal to conscience excuses our personal blame, it doesn't make the act not sinful. Someone may mistakenly believe that there is no wrongdoing in demolishing a building granted he were ignorant to the fact that there were still people inside, but the lack of wrongdoing is in reference to the personal blame, not to the act itself. The act itself, killing people, is still wrong. Likewise, homosexuality in itself is still wrong, conscience can only excuse you from personal blame if you are ignorant of something. Or consider if the demolition man purposely decided not to check if there were people in the building, even if he knew it would be a good idea to check, but didn't because he just didn't want to badly enough. Maybe he wanted to go home early. This chosen ignorance does not excuse him. Likewise, for this woman and her daughter, there is no excused ignorance, and no proper appeal to conscience.
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