Conscience and Consequence

The disciples have recently returned from sharing Jesus’ Way of communion, love, and healing power with people. One consequence is disciples being targeted for persecution. Another consequence is disciples being targeted for acclaim. Thus, Jesus says to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest.” He does not want disciples to lose who they are in the public acclaim rising from the mob now clamoring after them. Jesus is encouraging conscience. Conscience is being grounded in goodness. It is an inner wisdom and humility that moves one into loving service. The mob, any mob, is not living from conscience, nor will they witness wise humility for loving service. So it is that Jesus’ “heart is moved with compassion for them.” He says of the mob, “they are like sheep without a shepherd.”

Conscience is our own internal shepherd. If we are not actively conscientious, especially when we have external shepherds influencing us, troublesome consequences ensue. It is the condition of life under Militarism. Militarism means the military, which operates as a religion. Militarism is the ubiquitous relationship model that trains us in obedience to a superior. It is the social disposition that trains us to justify the suffering that superiors spawn. Militarism trains us in the practice of sanctifying the violence that superiors do. Militarism training us for obedience, deserved suffering, and violence,  reduces us to gullible sheep, their desired consequence. It intentionally diminishes conscience, our internal shepherd. We are weakened into the anonymity of a mob. We become an obedient citizen, a loyal worker, a good soldier. We are sheepishly docile members of a mob to a dictator type who lives off our acclaim. We laud an external ruler who fills up the void of our weakened self, our diminished conscience. A diminished conscience is how military units with their dictator commanders and mob responses are molded. A diminished conscience is how military cultures are molded too. A diminished conscience happens every time a command is given by a superior and we obey;  every time a lie is told and manipulated as true; every time a vulgarity is spouted and excused as irrelevant; every time a disabled person is mocked and eyes look away; every time a minority is victimized yet falsely blamed for victimizing the mob. A diminished conscience enables the dictator and their mob to claim godly control over the nation, over its people, schools, courts, press, finances, and all else, thus achieving their desired consequence.

Consequentialism is the historical name given to one example of a diminished conscience. It is the appropriately discredited belief that we can rationalize harmful actions by asserting the consequences will be beneficial. It is also known as – ‘The ends justify the means.’ Enduring wisdom knows we can never do or excuse harmful actions claiming our desired consequence will justify them. We can never do so because each and every harmful action is a known violation of conscience. The consequence of intentionally and repeatedly violating our conscience about lies and vulgarities and discriminations and violences for a future consequence asserted as good, is the current diminishment of Trump followers. They are gullible sheep without a conscience and without a shepherd because Trump is a dictator. They are a mob. They feel compelled to forcibly coerce the rest of us. Peacemakers are not led by people who repeatedly violate their conscience. It is we who can lead members of the mob back to conscience, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest.”

Prayer: Spirit of Integrity, guide us to reach out to those molded into mobs.

Question: When have I stepped away from the mob to live from conscience?

July 22, 2018     Gospel Mark 6:30-34     Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time