A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself.
“Man has the right to act according to his conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters”.
Conscience means ‘with knowledge’. So we have to do our homework. You don’t just make serious decisions without weighing up the pros cons and consequences.
The present day government is certainly ‘without knowledge’.
From East to West 
Hi Cailin,
Just wanted to say I’ve done some research into sin and conscience as referred to in the bible. And I think I have a clearer understanding of where you are coming from. I accept that you are not discriminating or singling out the gay community.
However, I do stand by my belief that the conscience clause would be a huge mistake. It is not to do with an opposition to the Catholic Church or to religious freedom. It is because it would be subject to abuse by people who are genuinely homophobic and who use religion as a stick to beat people with. Some examples would be the ‘God Hates Fags’ brigade in the US and closer to home, here is a link to a website which is clearly homophobic (references to HIV.. come on)
http://www.campaignforconscience.org/
The problem is that there is no way of determining and proving who is acting from the place of conscience you refer to and who is just bigotted. In which case the rights of the gay community not to be discriminated against by such people must be protected.
Finally, just to say I feel maybe in fact you have more faith in humanity than I do. Unfortunately and sadly, I think I’m more of a realist.
Regards,
Maria
Hi Maria, just a last note on above. For those who have been given much, much is expected of them. Christians have a huge responsibility to practice what they preach. If they don’t they face greater judgement than S & G. I found a scripture quote you probably know already:
Matthew 11:23-24 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”
Christians need to be pure in heart and gentle in spirit, sincere and tell the truth. Above all they should display grace and charity. If they don’t they’re not really converted themselves. That’s not to say we can’t speak what we believe, but it must always be with love and charity. Not phobic attitudes, or worse hatred or condemning.
I’ve learned a lot from you. Thanks.
Thanks, Maria. Yes, I have to admit I have very strong faith but I didn’t always have it! Also you are correct in that many people are anti-gay and they can use religion as a cover. This gives religion a very bad name and our faith should never be used to abuse, reject or condemn anyone. I’ll check out the site you posted.
Regards,
Cailin