Conscience

A conscience is one of the most difficult opinions to deal with because it is your own.  It is the voice that starts quiet and then grows louder and louder.  I believe that we all try to ignore our conscience from time to time, however, only those that are truly evil are consistently successful at it.  The rest of us have momentary successes at ignoring our conscience which lead to momentary failures in our lifelong goal to be seen as a good and wholesome person. 

Mark Twain had many thoughts on the mysterious voice in his head.  Twain said “The uneasy conscience is a hair in the mouth.”  This quote (although the least philosophical of his quotes regarding the conscience) is possibly the most accurate.    Nothing is more aggravating than the uninvited, contradicting voice popping into your head telling you what you are doing is bad.  If I could compare it to anything it would be the hair in the mouth.  You know the hair is there, you don’t want it to be there, but usually it is too elusive to remove.  In most cases, by the time you have removed the hair, you have lost all desire to continue what you were doing before the hair caught your attention. 

Twain also said “It takes up more room than all the rest of a person’s insides” referring to his conscience.  This comment is so true.  It is the only part of your body that acts entirely independently of your desire.  While it has no physical mass, it is the part of your body that is most noticeable—both to you and to others.  You internally can hear the voice and act (or don’t act) accordingly.  Externally, people see your actions which are often the result of your conscience.  The kind and decent person is the person that listens to his conscience most readily.  Every person has the internal struggle with the conscience the person who is the winner in life is the loser to his conscience. 

The Golden Rule

On page 116 of Tales of Juha, a story is told about Juha and his experience in a confectioners shop.  Juha strolls into the store, exclaims “In the name of God.” then begins eating everything.  The store owner is incredibly perplexed by his actions and commands Juha to stop.  When Juha doesn’t stop, the store owner begins to beat Juha.  Juha then replies to the beating by saying “God bless you people… You actually beat your guests, to force them to eat your sweets.”

Over the history of the world, people of all races, religions, and ethnicities have acted in ways that are truly unacceptable.  What is worse is that these people have done these actions in the name of their god.  Events like the Spanish Inquisition, the crusades, and the attacks of September 11^th have left the survivors questioning a god and humanity.  Why is it that an institution such as religion that was intended to be a light of hope to its people has gone (on occasion) so wrong? 

While Juha’s tale is more lighthearted than the events listed above, it brings about the same issue.  What god would want people to be so harmful to its neighbors?  My hope for humanity is that people can see religion for what it is, flawed.  Like all men and manmade things, religion has its issues.  The only hope for a peaceful future is for each person to live by a simple mantra that transcends all religions: treat others as you would be treated.  If we all could live by this ideal, everyone, from every religion, would be able to peacefully live together. 

Juha would never have stolen from the storeowner if he first considered how he would have wanted to be treated.  I think by taking a step back and considering others first we all are better off.  In the future, I challenge everyone to consider others first.