I once had a man, whose Christian faith I admired, say to me, “I think for blacks to marry whites is just plain wrong.” My response to him was first to try to understand what he was saying and why. I said something like, “What makes you say that?” or “How did you come to this principle?” We had the usual discussion on how mixed marriages are not fair to the children born of such a union who must face a life of ridicule. Furthermore, such children will not easily fit into “black culture” or “white culture.” He brought up the biblical justification concerning something to do with mixing seeds. After I countered all his arguments he finally said, “I just wasn’t raise to believe it (mixed marriages) was right.”
Now, racially mixed marriages do not offend my conscience but they do offend my friend’s conscience. There is a strong (but weakening social norm) against two races marrying. I have come to believe that race itself has more to do with culture than biology. I think racial differences are largely social constructs.
My conscience is offended by a church ordaining a practicing homosexual because I believe that the act of homosexuality is sinful. I have done my due diligence on the question of homosexuality. I have considered the science around it and the history of it. I am well aware that many will thoughtlessly condemn homosexuality simply because “they weren’t raised that way.” (Yes, I know the proper word is “reared.”) Their opposition to it is based on the same dynamic as my friend’s scruples against racially mixed marriages. That is a mindless prejudice born from inward fears or deeply ingrained attitudes.
A person can reach a heartfelt moral conclusion that is based purely on irrational prejudices. This bigoted conclusion can invoke a crisis in one’s conscience. Therefore, a crisis of conscience is not a perfect test for the rightness of one’s moral position on a given issue.
But is there is any value in what we call a moral conscience? Some very learned men and women would say that the conscience is the product a set of societal prejudices for or against certain behaviors. If my conscience prevents me from killing someone who is not a threat to me that is no more or less attributed to by upbringing. My conscience is nothing more than a product of a complex matrix of societal prejudges. I feel bad when I violate one of them only because I want to be accepted by family, community, and friends. Laws are written against murder simply because society pre-judges it as wrong.
I have a “crisis in conscience” concerning the question of my Church ordaining practicing homosexual persons to offices in the church. Is that scruple based on my principles or my prejudices? This is not the first time I faced this question. The same question has been with me for over thirty years. I keep the question partially open because it is one that is very important.
The Protestant movement was built on the crisis of conscience formed in the heart and mind of an Augustinian monk who, after his study of scripture and his own encounter with God, could no longer accept the teachings of the Catholic Church on how one is saved. He said, at his trial, that it is unsafe to violate one’s conscience and the plain teaching of scripture. Here are his exact words,
Unless I am convinced of error by the testimony of Scripture or by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted [convinced] by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God's word, I cannot and will not recant anything, for to act against our conscience is neither safe for us, nor open to us.
Galatians 5:19 (RSV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are plain:
The people of God sinned, not just by their actions, but because did not follow their hearts in doing what was plainly right.
Psalm 95:10 (RSV)
10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who err in heart, and they do not regard my ways."
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