Conscience: Teacher, Judge, or Executioner Pt. 4

The last fury is that of justification, however, instead of bringing ourselves in line with justice, our guilt seeks that justice align itself with us.

Of all the games we play with the Five Furies, our game with the fifth is perhaps the most dangerous. No one has ever discovered a way to merely set aside the moral law; what the rationalizer must do is make it appear that he is right. Rationalizations, then, are powered by the same moral law that they twist. With such mighty motors, defenses of evil pull away from us; we are compelled to defend not only the original guilty deed, but also others that it was no part of our intention to excuse. (Budziszewski, 154)

This, “most dangerous” fury is the one to which Ivan bowed lowest. Murder begins with hatred, yet we never intend it to go that far. 

G.K. Chesterton stated that, “Men may keep a level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil. That road goes down and down (Chesterton, 116 ).

But shouldn’t conscience show us the way up? Budziszewski says, “This downward spiral may seem to reveal