Unbeliever

[Scoobyshme]

Right, but again, that’s a personal opinion on what the natural law is. If somebody else believes with a good conscience to the contrary, are they morally bound to do what they think is right and you think is wrong, or are they morally bound to do what you think is right and they think is wrong?

I’m not claiming to know the right or wrong answer, I’m just trying to understand people’s viewpoint. It seems that people are saying that every person should follow their conscience, provided that it aligns with a particular moral code of conduct. If you were instead to say that somebody should always follow their conscience, even when it tells them to steal, murder, or use BC, at least that would be a consistent viewpoint.

I think we often forget that we have a very serious obligation to form our consciences in accord with Church teaching. In other words, there is such a thing as culpable ignorance. To your point, if someone is invincibly ignorant regarding a teaching of the Church, God won’t hold them responsible for what they couldn’t have known.

And, don’t forget that God’s law is written on the heart of every man. We can block this law out, over time. But, it’s there. That’s why, for example, young children have a natural shyness about certain things. It’s built in purity.

With regard to the Natural Law, we can know Natural Law. The Pope is the earthly arbiter of it.

I would invite you to listen to a lecture by Dr. Charles E. Rice on The Natural Law at the following website:

alabamacatholicresources.com/church_in_the_world.html

It’s about the 12th one down from the top. He teaches at Notre Dame school of law, and I can only say he’s outstanding. Entertaining, too. These are .mp3 files you can download to your PC, mp3 player, or ipod, and listen to at your convenience.