Conscientious Objection and the Natural Law

Abstract

First of all the author explains that moral conscience will be understood as the practical judgment concerning the deeds of the agent and that conscientious objection means dissent against the positive law. The ground of this dissent is the natural law. In the first part of his article the author recalls St. Thomas Aquinas' concept of the natural law, emphasizing the connection between its divine authority and the human (rational) participation. In the organized society (in the state) the interpretation of the natural law is made by means of the positive law. When this interpretation goes against the convictions of the citizen, he/she can decide to make a conscientious objection. A special form of this dissent is civil disobedience. In the second part of his article the author provides some examples of the possible conflicts of conscience leading to conscientious objection (inconsistencies in the so called anti-abortion precepts, legalization of in vitro conception and homosexual marriages). The author stresses that these cases are very complicated and a good solution is not easy to reach in the pluralistic societies. He indicates the important role of the public discussion on those difficult issues and warns against rashly blaming those citizens who respect the law in spite of its imperfection.