What is one way our conscience may have been influenced?

Answer 1

Eerie circumstances lead to 'conscience. I lived through it.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I could expand on this, but the words speak so well for themselves. Even as children, we learn (by experience), and are taught, that our trespasses hurt ourselves as much as those we offend. And, later, we find out that our experiences can stay with us as long as we live. I lived through an episode early on that became part of my conscience.

When I was about fourteen, I met up with a classmate (Billy, one of my best friends) on the Courthouse lawn around dusk -- why I don't remember, probably to go to a movie. A friend of his showed up, went by the initials (C. W) and without warning, blindsided me as hard as he could with a punch to my jaw. I didn't go down and I didn't retaliate. He seemed satisfied and soon left. (I was no sissy. I was athletic, and had very strong arms from the job I had after school -- probably could have ended up on top of him punching his lights out 'til someone pulled me off. But I didn't.)

{To compare the two of us, I was destined, as a senior, to be elected Pres. of the Honor Society and, as such, address the student assembly. He was a bully, confused about his future, and not so bright.)

My friend, Billy, asked me why I let him get away with that? I answered that a fight would be stupid and my mom couldn't afford any expensive dental work. Truly, it had surprised me so much, that for some reason, I wasn't even mad and I needed to be angry to fight.

About a year later, soon after my friend, Billy, had been killed in an Easter morning auto accident, his mother was driving a road in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico toward home, and came upon a bad auto accident. She ran to the side of the worst of the injured, who lay on the highway, and she put his head in her lap, as she sensed he was dying. It was C. W. who she knew as a friend of Billy.

As I did when Billy died, I went with her to C. W.'s funeral. I felt no pleasure or revenge in his death, as I was more con-cerned about how she was able to relive Billy's earlier passing. I was so sad for her as Billy was all she had.
I'm sure Billy never told her of 'the setto' and of course I didn't as it seemed so trivial compared to what she had to go through.
In retrospect, this was probably the eeriest set of circumstances in my life, and became an integral part of my conscience. It taught me that self-control and empathy for other people's circumstances are as important to me as they are to them. Somehow, I think that I had always had a sense that C.W.'s frustrations came from bad things in his life. I never felt the compulsion to entertain the thought that he had gotten his come-up-ance. Perhaps this is my conscience at work.

Answer 2

I think we tend to have our conscience deconditioned during childhood and adolescence. Children are born without boundaries of race, culture, class, cliques, etc. Then those walls go up over the next few years. What we knew was wrong from the moment of birth becomes acceptable because we're conditioned to accept it. The same can be said for other areas but that is the most obvious example to me.

Answer 3

The Holy Spirit.

Answer 4

actually religions seek to destroy our conscience so they can claim we can't live without religion.... conscience is something we are born with... religions go a long way in practicing brain washing, threats, abuse often violence to impose a blindness of conscience on a person..

Answer 5

By the way we have been brought up. If our parents are conscientious the kids generally are.
The same goes for the other way as well.

Answer 6

brainwashing?