Salvu Mallia, in his varied and sometimes controversial interview in The Sunday Times of Malta (January 8), affirms: “I have only one leader, which is my conscience”.

He insists that “the government should provide a good education system, allowing people to think and decide for themselves”.  He contends that the government should provide guidelines and advice.

At face value one cannot but agree with Mr Mallia’s contentions, for after all, we all agree about the supremacy of conscience when it comes to decisions concerning moral issues. The problem arises when many of us, due to a lack of moral education, are unable to take an informed decision on moral issues.

Very often we seem to equate conscience with what one feels or thinks at a point in time rather than with what is good for us, in the long run, as human beings, and what is good for society as a whole.

We agree that a good education allows people to think and decide for themselves, as Mr Mallia argues. But what about the influence of social media in all its aspects and forms? A great majority of the population give more importance to what is said on social media without checking whether what is said is factual or not.

Now that many political parties are becoming populist movements that look more after their own interests than the inte­rests of the human person and the good of society as a whole, who is the ordinary citizen to look up to for advice and guidance? With the separation of Church and State, one seems to argue that moral and ethical issues should be tackled solely by the Church.

But if both the Church and the State treat citizens as dignified human people, then, when it comes to moral issues, the Church, with its social doctrine, would enlighten the State when dealing with issues appertaining to the human person, and rather than conflict there would be cooperation that, hopefully, might lead to consensus.

Adherence to a political party does not mean that one is enslaved to all that the party stands for.  The social doctrine of the Church asserts that “Christians cannot find one party that fully corresponds to the ethi­cal demands arising from faith and from membership in the Church. Their adhe­rence to a political alliance will never be ideo­logical but critical”.

No wonder Mr Mallia states in his interview: “We cannot be Nationalists or La­bourites. We have to be Maltese”. I would say we have to be first and foremost dignified human people who happen to be Maltese.

Only when one is well-groomed with a holistic education can one take well-informed decisions. A well-groomed education is one that is inclusive and based on the principles of the dignity of the human person and the common good. Then one can agree with Mr Mallia that one’s only leader is one’s conscience.

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