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).
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