Can conscience be wrong?
Lutherans believe that human beings are fallible and that no one can achieve moral perfection. We believe that conscience is the power to make moral judgments about action but we do not believe that conscience is some sort of implanted, unerring message from God. Conscientious convictions can be wrong. However, even if one believes that the person with whom one disagrees is mistaken in her or his judgments, it is morally very dangerous to compel that person to act against her or his conscience. This is so partly because however deep one’s own convictions on the matter are, one must acknowledge that they, too, may be mistaken. But it is also so because to compel someone to act against conscience is an attack on their very integrity as a moral agent, and from their point of view it will be experienced as an attack on the right and the good on which they may be prepared to stake their own well-being.
