Conscience

Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual’s moral philosophy or value system.

Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sensory perceptions and reflexive responses, as in sympathetic CNS responses.

Conscience leads to feelings of remorse when a person commits an act that conflicts with their moral values.

An individual’s moral values and their dissonance with familial, social, cultural and historical interpretations of moral philosophy are considered in the examination of cultural relativity in both the practice and study of psychology.

The extent to which conscience informs moral judgment before an action and whether such moral judgments are or should be based on reason has occasioned debate through much of modern history between theories of modern western philosophy in juxtaposition to the theories of romanticism and other reactionary movements after the end of the Middle Ages.

Religious views of conscience usually see it as linked to a morality inherent in all humans, to a beneficent universe and/or to divinity.

The diverse ritualistic, mythical, doctrinal, legal, institutional and material features of religion may not necessarily cohere with experiential, emotive, spiritual or contemplative considerations about the origin and operation of conscience.

Common secular or scientific views regard the capacity for conscience as probably genetically determined, with its subject probably learned or imprinted as part of a culture.

In these times of bombardment of hate speak and fake lies and opinion pieces from questionable sources, it would be easy to dig a hole in the ground and hide from it all.

Tomorrow your voice will be heard, if you use it. It does take a little effort but this land offers you the choice.

Tomorrow if you have an acceptable photo ID and have previously registered, you will be handed a piece of paper with some names on it and some check boxes.

In a private space you can mark your choice of a person you feel is the best qualified to represent your ideas and wishes to create and pass laws you would do if you were in the government.

After all the promises and mud slinging and glossy pictures and wasted expenses, you and you alone can make your decision. Without the need to follow a party line or a poll or any other biases, you make your choice in total secrecy.

You get to walk out with a paper sticker that shows everyone you participated in the accepted democratic procedure.

Now you feel accomplished for not being swayed by all the hype and voting your conscience. Good for you.

To top off the feeling, go get some gift cards for your paper delivery person, your grocery bagger, your waste disposal personnel and anyone else who makes your life comfortable without knowing your name. Maybe choose one of those NGOs and make a donation. Grab a cake at the grocery and deliver it to your local firehouse. If you do all this now, before the season of giving, you will be remembered.

Oh, and adopt a puppy and give a pint of blood.