The Revenge of Conscience : Politics and the Fall of Man

A depraved conscience is the most destructive force in political life. Though modern ideologies deny the existence of original sin, it is the source of our great social evils. Blinded to this truth, we suppress our conscience until it is corrupted and, taking its revenge, leads us to cultural calamity. The revenge of conscience is horrifically manifest today in abortion, euthanasia, and suicide, evils brought about by the pollution of good intentions. -- Why do we kill the weak? -- How does our conscience take revenge? -- Why is moral neutrality an illusion?

Describing the political effects of Original Sin, Professor Budziszewski shows how man's suppression of his knowledge of right and wrong corrupts his conscience and accelerates social collapse. The depraved conscience grasps at the illusion of "moral neutrality," the absurd notion that men live together without a shared understanding of how things are. After evaluating the political devices, including the American Constitution, by which men have tried in the past to work around the effects of Original Sin, Dr. Budziszewski elucidates the pitfalls of contemporary communitarianism, liberalism, and conservatism.