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Almost_Catholic
Guest
Can someone give me some background on the primacy of conscience debate. What will it excuse?
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Pug
Guest
I’m not sure what you’re looking for, AC. If after considering *all *the facts, a person knows doing a certain action would be wrong, then they should not do it, out of obedience to conscience.
Grant for a moment that someone is Catholic and knows that the Church teaches X to be gravely wrong in all cases. Furthermore, that someone knows that the Church speaks with real authority, etc. Then they can’t just claim their conscience says it is okay to do X because considering all the facts includes considering what the Church says. And if they know enough about the Church to understand its authority, then they know enough to know that X is wrong. They’d have to bury their head in the sand to say that X is okay, and burying your head in the sand does not excuse.
Of course, there are sadly too many Catholics out there who are very poorly taught and don’t realize it. So they may not really know about the Church and her authority or her teachings. It is their duty to continue to learn about the faith, however, so they may not be excused if they are derelict in that duty. But in some cases they are (excused).
Grant for a moment that someone is Catholic and knows that the Church teaches X to be gravely wrong in all cases. Furthermore, that someone knows that the Church speaks with real authority, etc. Then they can’t just claim their conscience says it is okay to do X because considering all the facts includes considering what the Church says. And if they know enough about the Church to understand its authority, then they know enough to know that X is wrong. They’d have to bury their head in the sand to say that X is okay, and burying your head in the sand does not excuse.
Of course, there are sadly too many Catholics out there who are very poorly taught and don’t realize it. So they may not really know about the Church and her authority or her teachings. It is their duty to continue to learn about the faith, however, so they may not be excused if they are derelict in that duty. But in some cases they are (excused).
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Scott_Waddell
Guest
A incorrectly formed conscience may mitigate one’s culpability for wrongful actions, but it never makes objective wrongs right. That is, (I believe a CA ad put it this way) conscience is like a security alarm that goes off when something is wrong (fire, break-in, etc.), but it does not in itself determine objective rights and wrongs. So someone who says their conscience tells them that they can contracept is like someone sitting leisurely in their house while it is engulfed in smoke and flames and saying the smoke alarm did not go off, therefore there is no fire.
Scott
Scott
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HagiaSophia
Guest
Almost Catholic:
Cardinal Pell has written several pieces on this and explains why it is so often misunderstood.
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Scott_Waddell
Guest
Links?
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Chris_Jacobsen
Guest
Primacy of Conscience excuses nothing. It means doing what is right, even when everyone else is telling you it is wrong.
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HagiaSophia
Guest
Scott Waddell:
cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=23826
Primacy of conscience = July 2003
Here’s one but I know he has addressed the issue several times from various aspects of it.
cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=23826
Primacy of conscience = July 2003
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