When the law and your conscience clash

Almost always, obeying the law and doing good coincide, and a Christian is a good citizen. But not always: history is full of unjust laws and decent people who did good by disobeying them. Legal and good are not synonyms: laws are passed by majorities; the good is not. That is why conscientious objection exists: refusing to do something that the law allows or orders when it goes clearly against the good. It is neither caprice nor rebellion; it is loyalty to something prior to every law. "We must obey God rather than men," the apostles answered when they were forbidden to speak of Jesus, and they paid the price without violence. To be sure: conscience commands, but first it must be formed. A hunch is not a conscience; a conscience is educated with the truth, examines itself, and asks for advice. Formed like this, it is the final word. Even against the law.