By David Hegg

When we ask the question of what distinguishes mankind from the rest of creation, one of the more precise answers usually included is the presence and activity of the conscience. This “inner referee,” as it has been called, acts to pull us toward the good and away from the bad.

The conscience acts as our internal alarm clock. It goes off to alert us that it is time to wake up, stop, or change direction. And just like an alarm clock, sometimes it goes off when we’d rather it didn’t. On these occasions, we often fight against our conscience, using rationalization or other means to hit the ethical “snooze button.” We silence our conscience to pursue our own desires. Done over time, the conscience becomes reprogrammed to follow our desires rather than our previous ethical beliefs and convictions. And we all know where that leads. It leads to regret at best and ruin at worst.

Therein lies the weakness of the apparatus we know as the conscience. It can’t fight back mainly because it is not an independent entity. Like the........

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