Sometime ago, I wrote that conscience is the voice of character. Character depends strongly on conscience. As I was re-reading that blog, I thought of another facet that should be considered.
Conscience never lets you lean on others. When that voice of character speaks to you, telling you what is right and wrong, it makes you stand up alone and listen. It never lets you lean on someone else.
Conscience singles you out. It pulls you out of the crowd as though no one else exists. It doesn’t matter if everyone else is doing it. Conscience is the voice of character to YOU and you alone.
We need to teach this to children. Our character education programs need to incorporate it. Very young children need to learn that conscience speaks for character and it singles you out. Older elementary children need to learn that character listens to conscience and conscience makes sure you know it is speaking to you, not to your sibling or your friend.
Conscience never lets you lean on others when it tells you to do your work to the best of your ability. It will not listen when you respond that you are doing it as well as others in your workplace or school. “I probably have better lesson plans than the teacher across the hall” is not good enough for conscience. Conscience insists on the character trait of responsibility, and that means preparing the best lesson plans you can prepare, not the best the other teacher can prepare.
Conscience never lets you lean on others when it points out dishonesty in what you are about to tell your spouse. You cannot avoid conscience by calling it a harmless little fib, or white lie, and telling yourself that if your spouse were in your place, he or she would say the same thing. Conscience will insist on the character trait of honesty, and the sacrifice it demands.
What would happen if conscience let us lean on others? We would never choose moral excellence, for the group naturally descends to the least common denominator. Moral excellence is difficult, and the group seldom chooses the difficult.
There is a sense in which conscience is moral vision – and conscience never lets you depend on another’s eyes to see for you. It does not allow you to feign blindness in matters of character. Conscience gives you perfect moral eyesight. It helps you see completely what character requires. It refuses to let you look at character building with fuzzy vision. It refuses to let you teach character education with fuzzy thinking. It makes certain you see clearly what is meant by character, as explained in the adult how-to book by the same title: Character.
Conscience is a moral awareness of what character is and of the importance of character. As you read and re-read every word of this blog, conscience ensures that you hear the voice of character in what you read. As you think about each entry in this blog, conscience opens your eyes to the sight of a strong and beautiful character building.
Conscience never deals in the plural. It speaks only to you, and it points clearly to the right path.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?