Freedom of Conscience

Conscience and Nature of its Sanctions:

We become aware of our strongly held moral values through our conscience and are compelled to act on them; evaluate our character, and conduct, and ultimately follow those ideals. According to the self, consciousness entails introspection, awareness of one’s activity, and self-evaluation from a psychological standpoint. Being ‘judged’ by one’s conscience can result in guilt and other ‘punitive’ feelings. A person’s feeling of good and evil is referred to as conscience. Being conscious of the moral rightness or wrongness of one’s conduct or the goodness or badness of one’s intentions is what it means to have a conscience. The concept of conscience may be divided into the following parts in philosophical, theological, and ordinary contexts....

Freedom of Conscience:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” protects freedom of conscience today (art. 18). The Indian Constitution expressly states that freedom of conscience is a basic right and pledges to defend it by the most immediate measures available, such as writ petitions. This is due to the crucial function of conscience in an individual’s development and self-realization....

Crisis of Conscience:

When determining the right thing to do is extraordinarily difficult, a crisis of conscience emerges. The word is also applied when a person is concerned that they have done anything unethical or morally incorrect. It’s an ethical issue, but usually in a more serious meaning. When a person experiences a crisis of conscience, he fears that his actions will conflict with his conscience and so ethically incorrect.  We cannot always act in a way that is consistent with our values and ideals. We may ignore our conscience and behave counter to our conscience due to material avarice’s external exigencies. If done for monetary gain, this lowers our humanity and inhibits our conscience. However, there are times when we are unable to behave following our values owing to external factors beyond our control. Such circumstances also give us guilt and humiliation. Life Experience– When I was a kid, I stole a few sweets from a shop and didn’t pay for them. On the other hand, the shopkeeper assumed that the sweets had been stolen by a poor person standing next to me. He began thrashing him mercilessly. I was so terrified that I didn’t tell him the truth. Despite my desire to spare the guy from the undeserved agony brought upon him as a result of my wrongdoing, I suppressed my conscience for fear of being beaten by him....

Conscience Crisis in Public Life:

Public officials experience such crises in the form of dilemmas, in which they must choose between two comparable acts that are legal in their particular realm. It’s intriguing to examine whether an official chooses his inner conscience or duty in such situations. For example, a municipality officer has been instructed to evict squatters who have built unlawful shelters on government land. According to the official, the inhabitants are impoverished folks who are illegal settlers. In this instance, the official must decide whether to obey government orders and do his duties or follow his conscience and give them time to evacuate....

Ways to Resolve Crisis of Conscience:

The following passage from the Baha’i teachings provides three precise instructions for coping with a Crisis of Conscience:...