THE SEARED CONSCIENCE
Sir,—-It does look a bit suspicious that we hear so little of conscience
except in wartime, when it blazes up into unusual activity. It makes one sick to read of the numerous and wrougheaded pleas put up by "conscientious" objectors in this day of peril. St. Paul speaks of the seared (or cauterised) conscience; and the thing that scars it is generally our own wilfulness or personal desire. We never hear of an objector saying that he wishes to enlist, and would certainly do so only that ho is overpowered by his conscience 1 Careful questioning always shows that the objector does not want to go to the war. and has no intention of doing so if he can get out of it somehow. It is a ease of moralising or rationalising his inclinations. lvepugnant to all standards of humanity everywhere is the refusal to rush to the aid'of battered and bleeding women and children. Even a ducky hen knows that, in her own way. J. C. Fussell.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23994, 18 June 1941, Page 10
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171THE SEARED CONSCIENCE New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23994, 18 June 1941, Page 10
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