If you state erroneous opinions without educating yourself on a topic, you are acting immorally.
1. Ignorance: The unawareness of certain facts.
2. Culpable Ignorance: When one acts as if they know how to do something when they know that they don't know the facts pertaining to the subject.
The church teaches that conscience is primary.
Many people's consciences are in error, which is why people need an educated conscience.
People involved with the Holocaust were "in good conscience".
A quote from our author's philosophy teacher truly describes how to use our conscience properly: "Students, when all is said and done, every person must follow his conscience. Just make sure yours is not the conscience of an ass."
If you ask an educated Catholic, a great way to educate your conscience is to read encyclicals.
Encyclicals are books published to state the church's opinions on specific matters.
Here are some examples of people not knowing the facts:
"The story of creation in Genesis was written to further the myth of Christianity and it succeeded in this very well."
[Regarding the theory of evolution] "I cannot believe humans spontaneously combusted or any other stupid theory."
"So profound has Jesus' influence been that a branch of Catholicism, called Christianity, or the study of Christ, has been named in his honor."
2. Remember the Principle of Contradiction
Quite simply, the Principle of Contradiction states that something can't be and not-be at the same time.
---When using critical thinking, you have to look at facts contradicting your beliefs, so you can have several perspectives on things in order to make an informed decision.
An example of the Principle of Contradiction:
It cannot be raining and not raining at the same time. Even if it were, it would be pointless to say "It is raining" because that statement would be both true and false at the same time.
3. DEFINE YOUR TERMS
Put simply, you have to let people know what you're talking about in order for them to understand what you mean about it!
A very good example of somebody NOT doing this is:
"I have not yet heard a decent argument against miracles being divine in nature."
---The word "miracle" means an event which is divine in nature!
This statement is like saying:
"I've never heard a good argument against Martians being from Mars"
or "I've never heard a good argument against democracies being a nation ruled by the people"
4. BE INTELLECTUALLY HUMBLE
Simply put, good thinkers know that there is a lot left to learn and that they do not know everything. We all have had that experience of being certain about something and having it proven wrong to us.
An example of somebody NOT doing this is:
"I cannot believe humans spontaneously combused or any other stupid theory".
"Spontaneous combustion" means to burst into flame. It is also embarassing to dismiss anyone else's ideas as stupid, especially when you yourself don't know what you are doing about.
5. LOOK FOR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
Basically, there is more than one way to look at an issue. People will generally gravitate toward the more negative interpretation.
Here are some examples (they are not necessarily false, but they are short-sided):
It's hard to believe in God when the Church's history is filled with so many sins and mistakes-- the Crusades, the Reformation wars, the Inquisition.
Couldn't churc history actually be a sign that God is with it? How could the faith of such a weak and sinful people survive 2,000 years without help? 2. It is hard to believe in GOd because of all the evil in the world.
Doesn't goodness and beauty need an explanation too? 3. It's difficult to believe in the Catholic faith because it's so weird.
If someone made this stuff up just for people to follow them, wouldn't they make it believable?