An interesting topic for dialogue, would be to ask how we have been programmed to want not to live a crooked life, but to make our lives straight. Some may live crooked, dishonest or bad lives, and yet precaution is taken to hide it from others. We may even justify certain practices or behaviour as being an excepted custom or way of life in a particular culture or society. Yet, as society evolves, those same practices are found to be, not right. A case in point is the slave trade that existed in many countries for centuries and was subsequently abolished.

There is within each one an intelligent voice, which has to be something much more than what we could attribute to our limited human mind. We know only what we see, but beyond that exists mysteries which reveal themselves, as human beings discover those secrets that had long been kept hidden. What we know of the universe could be attributed to a drop in the ocean, as scientists would confirm. Even what we had known seems to have been faulty and needs to be regularly reviewed. Einstein’s theory that light travels fastest is now being disputed. Certain particles are said to be travelling faster. Science too then needs to be open to accept the challenge to correct itself regularly. In every strata of society there has to be a paradigm shift from old concepts to the new.

It now goes without saying, that the need of the hour is for highest in the land, the law-makers in parliament, the judiciary and parents, to accept the challenge to listen to their conscience and act accordingly, lest history deems them to have been hypocrites, or self-righteous and self-centred humbugs.

Our conscience speaks to us and tells us that something we may be doing is not right. We could either choose to obey it by correcting our ways or ignore it. If we continue to ignore the voice of the conscience it will become blunt or insensitive and the result will be wickedness or deception from within. The choice we make is a matter between life and death; wellbeing for one’s self or family or the unleashing of a destructive force.

Is not the voice of our conscience then a protective faculty, to safeguard us and society?

Have we deadened our conscience by choosing to ignore it constantly? When we destroy that sensitivity to listen and obey, we could be destroying safety mechanisms. Today, in our country, the government and opposition are hearing the cry of the people, warning them of looming danger in the ‘doesn’t care of what others say’ attitude syndrome. The voice of a higher intelligence is ignored. Surely terrible ramifications or consequences could follow. Yet the good news is that when we realize the inability to obey our conscience, because of such heavy constraints working in our self- centred faulty nature, things start working out. To the extent we cry out genuinely, we will have the power to straighten our path. Then would Joy and Peace fill our hearts and land.

Source: Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka