Everything intrinsic to man’s nature is good, even passions which appear to be objects of repugnance among the rationalists but very much embraced by romanticists are considered good in themselves. This basic truth is true to the rest of created beings, plants or animals. They cannot have even a speck of the otherwise for, in one way or another, it will be a foreseeable cause for annihilation or destruction. Conscience comes essentially with man; all that it is and does must necessarily be good. An objection, however, is inevitably called to mind, why do some people who claim to be acting following their conscience still fall or resort to malevolent activities? This inescapably leads the discussion then to the very nature of conscience itself. But I would like to argue at this point that such a phenomenon still occurs because conscience is not shielded with something so impenetrable that evil could not colonize.
There is a story of an old man who was one day asked by a young boy how he managed to remain virtuous up to that age. The wise man answered by bringing forth the analogy of two dogs inside him which were continuously at war with each other. It was that which he fed the most that ultimately decided the victorious one. Conscience is of the same nature. It grows and develops with what a person feeds or presents to it the most – bonum or malum? This is not to say, however, that it is similar with the Aristotelian or Thomistic idea of the mind or identical with it, for that matter, as tabula rasa. No. Conscience rather has been preconfigured to be in perpetual movement to goodness, yet this does not make it impermeable with anything contrary. Consider a glass full of clear water – the glass is conscience; the water refers to good things. It can remain eternally that way. But in the course of man’s borrowed life, he cannot but meet bumps along the way – bumps that can soil or stain the pure water that is conscience. The beautiful characteristic however is that it is open to redemption. No matter how dirty it gets, it can be as pristine as it had been if only virgin water is poured in it again and constantly. There is hope for redemption here!
Conscience learns from a person’s experiences. Hence when somebody remains an evil doer for the rest of his life, it is because evil things are fed to his conscience and thereby operates with it. That which has greater quantity has greater control over the territory and the inferior. The challenge is, do not let it man you. There are some cases when a person claims that he cannot control doing the wrong things anymore, but this should not be an object of dismay.
It can be said from the preceding that conscience is reflective of man’s character, his very being, who he really is. But then, again, even the most wicked of criminals, I believe, is convertible. You do not give up on yourself. Nobody is born a criminal. The Holy Scriptures even narrate countless accounts of conversion. That is why William Shakespeare’s query remains perennial, relevant then and now: to be or not to be, that is the question.
To conclude, following one’s conscience yields to good acts as long as the person has exerted effort to train, form, develop and nurture it with everything nice. You reap good fruit if and only if you have sown good seed. On the contrary, you reap bad fruit if you sowed bad seed. You reap what you sow.
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