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Another Look at Conscience 147

Second, emotional 'facts' are determined by emotional experiences.
Johnny‟s parents may say nice things to Johnny and do everything in their
power to bolster his self-esteem, but they
cannot erase the fact that his mind is
underdeveloped and that he lives within a small,
weak, and clumsy body. Because he is a child,
he lacks experience, knowledge, understanding,
strength, and skills. Therefore, he will continue
to encounter emotional experiences which
remind him that he is inferior to adults. These
incidents will mesmerize his Perceiver observer
into 'knowing' that he is „bad‟—no matter what
his parents say.
Third, Johnny will find it very difficult,
mentally, to go beyond the specific incident to
the general principle. This is because his
Perceiver 'facts' are determined by specific
Mercy incidents. His parents may want to teach
him general principles, but his mind will only notice the specific situations.
They may tell him, “Stealing is bad,” but what he will remember is, “I
shouldn‟t take cookies from the kitchen table.”

It is natural for a child to feel rejected by his parents.

 He continually fails because his body is weak and his mind fragile.

 Emotional 'truth' tells him that his failure and guilt are inescapable.

It is also natural for a child to rebel from his parents.

 Emotional 'truth' removes guilt by attacking the source of 'truth.'

Does this mean that parenting is hopeless? If parents only talk to their
children, and use only words to influence their offsprings‟ behavior, then I
suggest that childrearing will be very difficult. This is because words are
insignificant compared to the barrage of non-verbal experiences which the
child faces—and around which his mind is firmly integrated. How can
parents overcome this obstacle? By speaking in the child‟s language of
experiences and feelings.
Let us look first at the process of teaching children about time.
Mentally speaking, a child has no concept of time. Tell him that he will be
visiting his grandparents in two days, and he will not comprehend. He will
either start packing his bags right away and head for the door, or he will be
convinced that the trip may never arrive. This is because his mental clock
has two settings: now and never.
The mind of a child may not be able to grasp time, but his body can. It
goes through cycles of waking and sleeping, hunger and eating, pain and
healing. Therefore, a parent can teach his child that conscience involves

Mom and Dad

Johnny