If push comes to shove I choose conscience over Church teaching

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AdamP88 said:
Maybe some of us don’t want to play around with our eternal souls.
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I can appreciate that. But I would advise you to keep your mind open. And keep questioning. You haven’t arrived yet.
 
Luther followed his conscience to rebel against the Church; others followed him and their conscience to continue splintering the Body of Christ

Was Luther’s and those who followed seeking to build Christ’s Body?

So if you are following your conscience to make up yet another splinter, can you not see how your conscience cannot be leading you to the right path?

Maran atha!

Angel
 
jcrichton said:
So if you are following your conscience to make up yet another splinter, can you not see how your conscience cannot be leading you to the right path?
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I may come across as a loose cannon on here. But that is what I like about the Catholic Church. it allows for different interpretations, different personalities. I’m not really challenging Church dogma, just it’s interpretation. And the authoritarian approach some Catholics use. Too narrow. Too bigoted. (oops I didn’t want to use that word but there you go)
 
Did you miss the opening statement: ‘my conscience trumps Church’s Teaching?’

Maran atha!

Angel
 
One can either find another way to phrase things so as not to offend or they can remain silent. Either way, the person would still be honest with the other person.

goodcatholic used a dying person as an example. Where he would lie to spare the person’s feelings about his or her appearance, I would say, “I’m so happy to see you!” In that way, I avoid saying anything about the person’s appearance while letting the person know how much I care.
 
If the CAF consensus want to get rid of me, that’s fine. Thanks for your time. I enjoyed the short time we had together.
 
You’ve actually wrote: my conscience trumps Church’s Teaching–that’s not challenging Church Authority, yeah, right!

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Get rid of who? We are all entitled to our opinions. We just need to keep this discussion as friendly as possible. Because we are all family in CHRIST.
 
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jcrichton said:
Even Jesus “appeared” to break the rules often. He followed a higher Law, a rule of Love, that went way beyond the old covenant’s legalism.
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He did say that, yes. But you are taking that verse out of context. He was teaching about swearing oaths in Matthew 5. I was referring to times when He “appeared” to break the rules, like when the disciples picked grain to eat while walking on the Sabbath, or when He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, or overturned the tables in the Temple.

God is Truth and Love itself. But sometimes omitting things, refraining from saying things, or phrasing things in a certain way, is the LOVING and truthful thing to do. It all depends on situation and context.

@goodcatholic…do not rely on your conscience if it seems to contradict the Catechism. Like I said, if it seems to contradict, then you are either misinterpreting the Catechism, or there is some sort of misunderstanding that can be corrected with wise guidance. Like poguy18 said, at the core of the Catechism is Love.

Catholicism is not about blindly following rules. We are meant to be transformed into the image of Jesus, who is Truth and Love. I’m sure we all need to pray for more wisdom in what to do in each and every situation, because life is really messy and sometimes it’s not always clear what to do. We are fallible and prone to error, but we should strive to be God’s hands and feet in all situations.
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But what is the intent, is it to spare someone’s feeling or excuse our personal sin?

Maran atha!

Angel
 
I agree, I would say something similar to a dying person. I think we’re saying the same thing. I don’t think goodcatholic used a very good example to talk about lying. No where does Catholic teaching say we just have to brutally say everything we’re thinking…that’s not being honest; it’s being unloving.
 
So we are to say “yes” and “no” only when swearing and oath–the rest of the times we can lie and do other things?

Maran atha!

Angel
 
I am a Paraeducator. If I have to bend the truth to keep an unstable kid from hurting themselves or others…I do what I have to do. I live with the daily knowledge that schools are targets. You had better believe if a gunman approached me and asked where kids were I would lie through my teeth.
 
jcrichton said:
Did you miss the opening statement: ‘my conscience trumps Church’s Teaching?’

Maran atha!

Angel
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I’m sorry, I do not see that statement in his opening post. His title is wrong, yes. He should not be choosing his conscience over Church teaching. If he feels they are in opposition, then he is misinformed. The Church teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love God above all else.

I was trying to respond to the spirit of what he saying in his opening post with charity. He seemed misinformed if he thinks the Church teaches that we should say every blunt thought that comes into our minds. No one should tell a dying person “You look terrible!”, unless of course it’s a dear friend of yours, you always joke in that way, and that sort of humor helps him cope with his impending death. It’s all situation and context.

Perhaps the way I phrased my responses was unclear. I apologize. But people sure seem eager to jump on him and pass judgement instead of guiding him to the truth. Let’s try to help each other, CAF.
 
GoodCatholic,
Some of your posts, including this one, seem to be written simply to justify yourself. It is hard to know how to respond. When people disagree with what you are trying to justify, you become dismissive. It often appears that you just want people to agree with you, even about things that are against Catholic teaching or borderline.
There’s a strong sense of ambiguity in your posts toward your Catholicism. If this is what you are struggling with, I don’t think these forums are where it will be worked out.
 
Each of us has the right to our opinions, @goodcatholic. Your opinion about my allegedly being “judgmental” towards you is seriously flawed. I’ve made observations about the content of your posts as I did in my previous response to you.

If you can’t handle the truth from me and from other posters, perhaps you better examine your conscience.
 
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