An Enlightened and Responsible Conscience is an Asset

 

International Day of Conscience 2022 / 05 April / Article

An Enlightened and Responsible Conscience is an Asset

Fr Dr M. D. Thomas

Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi

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‘International Day of Conscience’ is celebrated on the 05th day of April. The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 July 2019. The first International Day of Conscience was observed on 05 April 2020, as well.

 

A global campaign was launched at the United Nations Organization on 05 February 2019, by ‘Federation of World Peace and Love’, demanding the declaration of the International Day of Conscience.

 

In due response to the campaign, the UN General Assembly adopted the draft resolution, which was set forth by the Kingdom of Bahrain, with the name ‘Promoting the Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience’ on 25 July 2019.

 

Accordingly, the Member States, international and regional organizations, private sector and civil society, non-governmental organizations and individuals, and the like, are invited by the United Nations, to build the ‘culture of peace, love and conscience’, through activities that are oriented to education and public awareness. 

 

‘International Day of Conscience’ commemorates the importance of ‘human conscience’. ‘Being conscious of the need of creating conditions of stability and well-being as well as peaceful and friendly relations throughout the world’ was the objective of the day.

 

‘International conscience’ signifies a ‘body of sentiments and ideas shared by all peoples, which assures a peaceful solution of international problems that are caused by a variety of differences’. It is also a collective ‘consciousness’ as social beings beyond borders.    

International conscience is also ‘consciousnesses’ of having a shared sense of identity as humans on the global level. It is the state of being aware of problems that affect a lot of people in society. It respects the rights and freedoms of one and all, no matter race, sex, language, religion or anything else.  

The social conscience, or more correctly the social heart, would want to do something, having found someone poor and without home. ‘Survival of the fittest’ is too a barbarian concept for human beings. Social conscience keeps the humans mutually connected and caring.

‘International Day of Conscience’ is geared towards promoting peace and love throughout the world. It addresses all ages and all groups. It has an open-minded global strategy with a particular purpose to let the culture of peace get rooted in the minds and hearts of the people.  

 

‘Peace is not only the absence of differences and conflicts, but it is a positive, dynamic and participatory process that is connected intrinsically to democracy, justice and the development of all’. Conscience accelerates peace. This is the mind of the United Nations.

 

Moreover, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations affirms, “all human beings are born free and are equal in dignity and rights and are endowed with reason and conscience and therefore should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.

 

A conscious life necessarily has clear policies and practices for respecting life, for rejecting violence in all its forms and for recognizing the equal rights of men and women. A life of conscience lives principles of democracy, freedom, justice, solidarity and plurality.

 

A ‘culture of conscience’ has to evolve, in which one is conscious of every thought, word, deed and decision. This culture has to be permeated by a set of values, perceptions, attitudes, traditions, customs and modes of behaviour.

Conscience is the most sacred area of the human being. It is the seat of the divine power. In other words, conscience stands for God’s presence in human beings. It is the bench of justice, too. To have lost one’s conscience is to have nothing left worth keeping. Conscience has to be energized by ideals, values, principles, policies and sound practice.  

In addition, conscience is the silent witness to every happening. It credits or discredits human thought, words and actions. “Conscience is the inner voice that warms us that someone might be looking”, as H. L. Mencken states. “The only guide to man is his conscience”, adds Winston Churchill.

Again, to put it in the words of Joseph Addison, “a good conscience is to the soul what health is to the body; it preserves constant ease and serenity within us; and more than countervails all the calamities and afflictions, which can befall us from without”.

One has to be ‘conscious’ of oneself, others and everything else in the creation. ‘Consciousness’ has to be rooted in one’s mind, heart and spirit. One’s ‘conscience’ has to keep the human family and the creation integrated with in the divine orbit, as well. An informed, enlightened, empowered and responsible conscience is a singular asset in life. And, that is the need of the hour.


On the occasion of ‘International Day of Conscience 2022’, it has to be resolved that one has to own an informed, enlightened, empowered and a responsible conscience, in view of aiming the best out of life. May good conscience reign over the world!   

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The author is Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and has been committed to cross-cultural perspectives, cross-scriptural values, constitutional values, interfaith relations, communal harmony, national integration and social wellbeing, for the past over 40 years. He contributes to the above cause through lectures, articles, video messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV channels, and the like.

 

He could be viewed, listened to and contacted at the following portals – websites ‘www.mdthomas.in’ (p), ‘https://mdthomas.academia.edu’ (p), ‘https://drmdthomas.blogspot.com’(p) and ‘www.ihpsindia.org’ (o); social media ‘https://www.youtube.com/InstituteofHarmonyandPeaceStudies’ (o), ‘https://twitter.com/mdthomas53’ (p), ‘https://www.facebook.com/mdthomas53’ (p); email ‘mdthomas53@gmail.com’ (p) and telephone 9810535378 (p).

Location: New Delhi, Delhi, India

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