#BTColumn – The voice of conscience

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.

Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the ‘Nation of Islam’ movement in the United States of America, in his speech a few weeks ago titled “The Criterion”, spoke to a dangerous situation that is seemingly affecting many human beings – the reality when “your conscience won’t even talk to you anymore.”

The increasing incidents of violent crime, actions and behavior witnessed in our country speak to a people whose conscience clearly doesn’t speak to them anymore.  The intensity of the violence, the types of brutal actions, the ages of those involved and the frequency with which these crimes are occurring are worrisome and frightening.

No person of clear conscience will perpetuate the types of acts we read about, view on social media and witness in our neighborhoods. Their conscience is refusing to speak to them anymore.

In the past, that conscience would tell an individual pause, think, reflect, and understand the repercussions of your actions. Today, it appears that there is no such conversation. The conscience is silent.

Do we fully comprehend the pain of a mother whose young child is killed by being struck in the head allegedly by other young children? What would drive anyone to strike an innocent person, worse still, a child, with a 2×4 piece of wood?

How can a human being calmly come to a place, shoot dead another human in the clear view of all those around and simply drive away? That person’s conscience is non existent.

What has brought us to this point where, for some, their conscience no longer informs them what is right and what is wrong?

Minister Farrakhan spoke at length on the impact of sin and iniquitous behavior on the conscience. And he spoke to it at all levels of society and nation, not simply the sins of the average person but the unjust behavior of the rulers over the ruled. Human history is replete with examples of how nations and communities succumbed to their wrongful and harmful actions and were destroyed by their loss of conscience – leaders who felt they were gods and rulers of humanity for life; no care for the lowly, the weak, the dispossessed. Their conscience no longer spoke to them to be caring, kind, generous and humble. Their worldview was one of supremacy and greed.

Last month marked 75 years since the US detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. The first explosion immediately killed an estimated 80, 000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.

The two bombings killed between 129, 000 and 226, 000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. The repercussions of the use of the atomic bombs on these cities were felt for decades.

The leadership of America who perpetuated these crimes against humanity were never brought to justice. They remain as heroes for some, winning a war against a foreign enemy and proving America’s might and superiority. Their conscience no longer spoke to them.

The unjust and cruel system of slavery that was perpetuated against the people of Africa in the Atlantic slave trade spoke to a collective loss of conscience on the part of the enslaving European nations and its people. Hate, greed and profit-making replaced the human characteristics of love and compassion. The enslavers’ enforcement of inhumane treatment meted out to the enslaved heralded a form of oppression and suppression never witnessed before in human history. Enslavers had absolutely no conscience. We suffer the repercussions until this day of that most brutal system of human enslavement.

As a person of faith, I recognize that loss of conscience speaking to an individual in many regards is a result of a loss of consciousness of the Creator. We enter perilous waters when we discard our faith and belief in a Supreme Being. Not that human beings who have faith don’t also suffer that fate when they engage in wrongdoing. That is clear, and several examples are with us today of such individuals. But the point I am making is that the propensity for our conscience to disregard us is greater, regardless of who we are, when we feed the evil lurking in ourselves.

As one writer explains: “The word ‘conscience’ is a compound of two words meaning ‘con’ (with) ‘science’ (knowledge), so our own conscience means having the knowledge of something we’re going to do or say, have done and said, or will do or say in the future. The conscience is not an audible voice, but many say it’s very close to one since the conscience speaks to them (and us,) in thoughts about whether their actions are okay or not. The conscience lets us know what we’re doing and whether we should or shouldn’t do something or say something. In a sense, our conscience makes us responsible for our actions.”

The same writer goes on to ask: “Is our conscience our guide?” And answers: “It depends on whether it’s been seared or not.”

Minister Farrakhan spoke to that seared conscience and the devastating results. Another writer puts it more clearly: “Evil in the world has always been a problem, but it has only in the past few centuries translated into a revolt against God and religion. Why is that? What is different now?

“The gradual reorientation of the Western mindset from the ‘purpose of life’ to the ‘quality of life’ was a byproduct of 18th-century Europe’s Enlightenment Period. This radical shift of focus, wherein peoples’ means of living displaced the pursuit of transcendent purpose, is what eventually made life’s frustrations increasingly unbearable. When the totality of existence is reduced to this life alone, and life is no longer seen as a means to a greater goal, it can be expected that ensuring immediate pleasure and avoiding pain would become the sole objectives—and unattainable objectives, for sure.

“It is, therefore, no wonder that Western communities in particular, despite their many luxuries and comforts, have had the greatest difficulty grappling with the problem of evil. As Victor Frankl put it, ‘More people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.’’’

As a nation, we must seek all means and ways to bring ourselves and those around us back to living with a purpose – a purpose to uplift all of humanity, not destroy it. We must reconnect with our conscience so once again it speaks to us and speaks to us to do what is right, fair, just and rewarding.

Suleiman Bulbulia is a Justice of the Peace; Secretary of the Barbados Muslim Association; Muslim Chaplain at the U.W.I, Cave Hill Campus and Chair, Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition. Email: suleimanbulbulia@hotmail.com.