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Is Breaking the Law Justified?


“.. but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.”  - Henry David Thoreau 

In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau speaks of how it is every citizen’s duty to resist unfairness shown by the government, and to break the law if necessary.  My question now to you is, do you believe breaking the law is ever justified?

Of course, change is not liable to ever occur is there is no resistance or revolution.  Nothing will change without support.  However, is breaking the law morally or, ethically right?

In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” King speaks of just and unjust laws, insisting that an individual has both a right and responsibility to break the law.  He defines just laws as such that should uphold human dignity, and unjust laws that “degrade human personality.” He argues that “unjust laws hurt the oppressed and the oppressors, since they are given a false sense or superiority.”  This proves Thoreau’s theory of how unjust laws do not work for the people.  Further in King’s letter, he states that just laws become unjust when they are not used correctly.  He understands he is willing to accept the punishment for his transgression.  This makes his civil disobedience just.  In Nazi Germany, when their laws allowed for Jewish persecution, there were individuals who helped families out, to stop them from going to the death camps.  However, in the end they had to pay for it, in this case, their own lives.  To stand up for what is right is justifiable, but we must endure the penalties for the actions we committed. 






Comments

  1. Sawyer DarishSeptember 22, 2019 at 12:28 PM

    I really liked how you started your blog with a quote and question that revolves around your main idea. Also I liked how you incorporated real life examples in order to display how civil disobedience has occurred in other instances as well as in the piece.

    ReplyDelete

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