Quotations from the book, “Knowing Right From Wrong,” by Thomas D. Williams:

“In the depths of our consciences we recognize the existence of a law we did not write, but which we feel we must obey.  We have the power to choose right or wrong — but we do not have the power to declare what is right and wrong and have it be so.”

“Since human are moral beings everyone experiences the ‘prick’ or ‘prod’ of conscience.  This can be uncomfortable, and many have striven to explain — or explain away — conscience.”

“Shame is a proper response to what is shameful.”

“In our eagerness to be nonjudgmental, we sometimes jettison the entire moral law as well.”

“If conscience is meant to guide us to right conduct, it must offer more than opinion.  It must offer moral truth.  Otherwise ‘right’ conduct wouldn’t be ‘right’ at all.  It would simply be a question of perspective, preference, or social convention.”

“Those who say, ‘No one should impose a universal moral principle on others,’ are already contradicting themselves.  After all, what is, ‘Thou shalt not impose one’s moral principles,’ if not a moral principle itself?”

“Conscience doesn’t serve our urges and pleasures; it serves the truth.”

“When the dictates of conscience reign over the impulses of the flesh, we are truly free.”

“When the conscience speaks it does not offer suggestions; it passes judgments and issues commands.  It is the witness of God, Himself, who knows our inmost being, our deepest thoughts, motivations, and intentions.”

“Conscience has been rightly called an inner ‘sanctuary’ where God speaks to man in the depths of his heart.”