Conscience and Silence

I have been following with great interest the discussion on dissent/disagreement and the rights of conscience, here, here, here, and here, among other places.  As for myself, I am always leary of concluding that my conscience is well-formed when it comes to concluding that the Church is wrong, and I am right.  After all, I have been through a three year program in the art of rationalization (law school), I am bound by intellectual and spiritual limitations, I am a product of a particular time and culture, etc.  But suppose hypothetically that after much prayer and study, I conclude that I must dissent or disagree with the teachings of the Church, must I also speak about it? 

In other words, even if I disagree/dissent, does my conscience compel me to say so out loud?  If so, why?  In most cases, I wouldn't think that I have a duty to speak and publicly proclaim my dissent/disagreement, and I think there are powerful prudential reasons for keeping my private conscience private.  What is gained by public disagreement/dissent?  Do I hope to help inform the Church?  Might I cause scandal or confusion among the Catholic faithful, the separated brethren, and non-Christians by my public dissent/disagreement?  If I must speak, am I acting in love and humility, open to the possibility that I may be wrong and with firm belief that the Holy Spirit will guide the Church in the right direction in the long run?

The fact that my private conscience leads me to dissent/disagree seems to me to be a completely separate issue from making the contents of my conscience known publicly.

What do you think?

Michael S.