The immature conscience is one that bases its judgments partly, or even entirely, on the way other people seem disposed toward its decisions. The good is what is admired or accepted by the people it lives with. The evil is what irritates or upsets them. Even when the immature conscience is not entirely dominated by people outside itself, it nevertheless acts only as a representative of some other conscience. The immature conscience is not its own master. It is merely the delegate of the conscience of another person, or of a group, or of a party, or of a social class, or of a nation, or of a race. Therefore, it does not make real moral decisions of its own, it simply parrots the decisions of others. It does not make judgments of its own, it merely “confirms” to the party line. It does not really have motives or intentions of its own. Or if it does, it wrecks them by twisting and rationalizing them to fit the intentions of another. That is not moral freedom.
– Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island [1955] |
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| April 18, 2023
Should the Wall Street Journal Have Pulled Gershkovich Out of Russia?
Ever since Russian authorities arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on charges of having violated Russia’s espionage laws, the Journal has steadfastly maintained his innocence. The Journal claims that Gershkovich is being held as a “political hostage.” That might well be true, but a question naturally arises: Are officials at the Wall Street Journal partially responsible for the plight in which Gershkovich … |
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