How can parents instill in children the moral courage to disobey when conscience so dictates?
Conscience is developed in our formative years. Children frequently ask about the justice and fairness of a decision or an act, questions that serve as the birth pangs of conscience. Whether or not these children continue to ask such questions depends upon whether and how they are answered. If children ask, “Why can’t I stay up late?” or “Why can’t I go out with my friends?” and the answer is the blunt and naked “because”—”because we said so,” “because the Bible said so,” “because God said so”—this crushes the seed of conscience. Children’s dignified questions deserve dignified adult answers. We teach conscience by answering questions fully. Questioning is a sign of human liberation, as slaves do not ask questions and masters do not offer answers. Subordinates know only the unquestioning duty to obey. Is that why Pesach seder honors the questioning of children? Yes, the seder is a great model of the central role of the question in building moral character. Perhaps that is why the four
