EP 109: Principles of Government Part 2: Rights of Life, Liberty, Property, and Conscience
“Whatever is at the center of a person's life forms the fabric of his conscience. The conscience must be educated from divine sources in order for it to be keen and sharp, responsive and sensitive to God. ” ~Stephen Covey
The rights of life, liberty, and property seem pretty straight-forward and self-explanatory, but the right of conscience?! What does that mean? And more importantly, why does it matter?
In this podcast, Audrey and Lindsey explore the 2 Consciences taught by Stephen Covey and why understanding them is so critical. With so much confusion in the world around rights and entitlement, absolute or relative truth, and the nature of the conscience, this podcast is a MUST LISTEN for those who want to better understand the proper role of government in society.
Listener's Guide:
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast.
0:45 Summary - Principles of Government Part 1
3:30 Understanding the Significance of Basic Rights
8:11 Conscience - What is It
18:30 Understanding Conscience and How it Affects Us
20:55 Shinichi Suzuki
23:26 James Madison
27:03 Albert Schweitzer
27:40 Immaculée Ilibagiza
28:05 Your Center is Your conscience
29:50 Recognising the Difference in the Two Consciences
38:40 Government and conscience
Quotes from this episode:
“The conscience is the internal voice, our sensitivity or awareness, our sense of right and wrong. This is why we can say we are all born with a conscience because on some level we have a sense that there is a right and there is a wrong and that we ought to choose the right.” ~Stephen Covey
“We basically have two consciences. We have a divine conscience and a social conscience. The divine one is the true one. It is the light God has given every man who comes into the world. The second one is also given to us but this one comes from our human experiences - from our upbringing, the culture around us, the norms, the mores, the traditions, values, and beliefs, and from the level of our obedience to the divine conscience.” ~Stephen Covey
“The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” ~Holy Bible, Psalm 37:31
“ We must educate our conscience. Once a person is true to the light he has received he is then capable of receiving more light and obeying it. Until he is true to the light already given additional light would only condemn him for he is capable neither of understanding it nor appreciating it. He would fall into the trap of being given a gift and being unable to receive it. The Lord gives to his children what they are able to receive and no more. If they are true to that he will give them more. ” ~Stephen Covey
“The voice of your conscience is the voice of God.” ~Leo Tolstoy
“Do the next right thing.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“You can speed up your own personal growth by deciding to stay in obedience to your divine conscience.” ~Audrey Rindlisbacher
“In the former sense, a man’s land, or merchandise, or money is called his property. In the latter sense, a man has property in his opinions and the free communication of them. He has a property of peculiar value in his religious opinions, and in the profession and practice dictated by them. He has a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person. He has an equal property in the free use of his faculties and free choice of the objects on which to employ them. In a word, as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights...conscience is the most sacred of all properties.” ~James Madison
“Whatever is at the center of a person's life forms the fabric of his conscience. The conscience must be educated from divine sources in order for it to be keen and sharp, responsive and sensitive to God. ” ~Stephen Covey
“The heart never takes the place of the head but can, and should obey it."
