CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

by Jorge D. Lomboy
June 2, 2015



At the outset, let me treat my subject as a piece of conversation with you in the first, second and third person but not necessarily in that order.  You are unique, I am unique and he is unique.  You have a right to be different, I have a right to be different and he has a right to be different.  You have no right to be indifferent, I have no right to be indifferent and he has no right to be indifferent.  He can never be you, I can never be him and you can never be me. 

The three of us are human beings but the big difference lies within us and without.  I let you be you, you let him be him and let me be me.  Anything contrary to this is a crisis of conscience.

It is difficult for the three of us to think clearly when our minds are crowded and the issues are cloudy.  In a society that forbids suppression and encourages expression, a difference of opinion will always exist on every subject and every topic.  By way of example, if you have a penny and I have a penny and we exchange pennies, you still have one penny and I have one penny. 

 But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange ideas, you now have two ideas and I have two ideas.  A mind once stretched to a new idea never retains its original dimensions.  Cross-pollination of ideas broadens the mind and understanding of diverse points of view.  By cross-pollination we will understand where each is coming from and how you and I feel when we put ourselves in the shoes of the other guy.  Forbidding a difference of opinion generates a crisis of conscience.

You have your own crisis to overcome and I have my own crisis to handle.  You have problems to solve and I have problems to attend to.  Your strength may be my weakness and my strength may be your weakness.  In life we have to rely on the strengths, resources and talents of others to get rid of our own crisis and get through our problems.  Needless to say, empty pride is the mother of all sins.  You didn’t make the shoes you are wearing and I didn’t manufacture the shirt I am wearing.  I didn’t create the pen I use to write and you didn’t invent the cell phone you use to talk.  These are products of the talents, resources and strengths of others we don’t even know.  Pride in weakness to overcome our own crisis and problems generates a crisis of conscience.

Denomination is the value or size of a series of values or sizes, as of money.  Every legal currency is divided into different denominations with their value designated by numbers.  One, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty and hundred dollar bills are widely in circulation.  Price is the amount of money given or set as consideration for the sale of a specified thing.  It is the cost at which something is obtained.  But the power of money has gone too far to include denomination of human rights and human dignity.  The same rights are violated and yet the relief granted is worlds apart.  The rich litigant is awarded bigger denominations of money while the poor litigant is given small denominations.  This denominational trend in the dispensation of justice generates a crisis of conscience.

A denomination also means a religious organization whose congregations are united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices.  Religious denominations divide us, they segregate us and separate us from those who are different.  A denomination is a wall that partitions Christianity into different forms of worship among the same Christians.  My idea of Christianity is one that excludes denomination and includes humanity as a whole despite diversity. 

The polarizing effect of religious denominations opens Christianity to scrutiny for true Christianity is brotherhood without walls, without boundaries, without demarcation lines and without red lines.  Every man, woman and child belonging to any religious denomination, however different, was created in the image and likeness of the same God and this is why religious denominations generate a crisis of conscience.

The head does not follow the tail.  This is true with four-legged animals and it is also true with human beings.  It is the tail that follows the head and the same holds true with leaders and their followers.  Discipline must start at the head, at the top, and not from the tail, from below, for a reckless driver is more dangerous than an 18-wheeler truck.  We have become a nation of distorted values and bad priorities with everyone doing it their own way for lack of moral discipline on the part of those in the driver’s seat.  Lack of discipline in leadership roles compromises our value systems where right and wrong conjure with denomination of money.  Lack of discipline in leadership is a problem that has turned into a national epidemic due to lack of personal discipline.  Lack of discipline among our leaders continues to amortize a crisis of conscience.

Your crisis and my crisis are not made in heaven.  Your problems and my problems are man-made.  By the square and compass, we need to circumscribe our desires and keep our passions within due bounds towards all mankind to prevent the embedding of crisis in our culture.  Try to sit down and reflect on the troubles around and you will find that to some extent some problems are personalized by some and individualized by others. 

In large measure our crises are institutionalized and nationalized.  The most contentious issue does not come from gains and losses but comes from a society that lacks the conscience of a nation.  Nobody gains and everyone loses in a society fostered by a crisis of conscience.  Our greatest challenge is to rid our institutions of leaders whose behavior generated a crisis of conscience.

It is one thing to have knowledge and talent and it is another thing to have conscience and wisdom.  Being inconsiderate to the conditions of some and being insensitive to the predicaments of others are demonstrably the aristocratic attitude of the knowledgeable and talented, of people living in exclusive, well-guarded neighborhoods.  People live in poverty all life long because of callousness and insensitivity on the part of the knowledgeable and the talented. 

Conscience is the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s conduct, intentions or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.  It is a faculty, power or principle enjoining good acts, a sensitive regard for fairness or justice.  A crisis in material things leads to austerity and destitution while a crisis of conscience validates moral deficiency and spiritual malpractice.  It takes the intervention of a higher power to overcome a national crisis of conscience.

Many relationships either break down or turn sour due to loss of trust.  Many institutions are on the brink of breaking down due to lack of respect.  Many businesses go under water due to loss of confidence.  Trust, respect and confidence are not asked, they are earned.  Freedom of conscience liberated our minds from the chains of mental colonization but loss of trust, respect and confidence which gave rise to a crisis of conscience trivialized the significance of freedom of conscience. 
 It is not illegal to be uncaring and unconcerned.  It is not a crime to be insensitive and inconsiderate.  It is not a sin to be callous and inattentive.  There are unpleasant situations occurring every day.  We read about them day and night, hear about them here and there, and see them now and then.  Being short of moral uprightness is a source of displeasure attributed to one’s right to be free.  That is why moral vandalism in a religious nation has become the unwanted offspring of a menacing crisis of conscience.