People's justification to engage in civil disobedience rests on the unresponsiveness that their engagement to oppose an unjust law receives. People who yearn for a change in a policy might sometimes find themselves in a dead end because their “attempts to have the laws repealed have been ignored and legal protests and demonstrations have had no success” (Rawls 373). What Rawls says is that civil disobedience is a last option to oppose an unjust law; therefore, providing civil disobedients with a justification for their cause. Civil disobedience is the spark of light that people encountered at the dead end and they hope that this spark of light will illuminate to show that an unjust law should not exist at all. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his “Letter from …show more content…
Herbert J. Storing, an Associate Professor of Political Science, in “The Case Against Civil Disobedience,” writes, “One of the practical consequences of this institution [civil disobedience] is to divert disobedience and even revolution into the channel of law” (97). What Storing is saying is that civil disobedience will encourage people to break the laws and they will hide under civil disobedience to avoid the law. Also, civil disobedience might split society by creating disagreements with the people, and it could create a political instability. However, Storing fails to see that those who break an unjust law, as discussed above, do not avoid the law, in fact they show respect to the law as they willingly accept the consequences. By accepting the consequences, they show that they are not acting for their own interests but for society’s. These reasons will prevent anarchy because one has a conscience to determine which laws to follow and which ones do not; therefore, one shows loyalty to the authority of law and also loyalty to one’s
Our disobedience enstils the passion our contemporary society continues to have for what we feel is just. Peaceful resistance to unjust laws benefits a free society by giving the American people a voice in government. History and contemporary media has proven that protesting our governmental ideals is a strong and powerful means of changing the government. Martin Luther King Jr. protested the horrendous treatment of African-Americans in the 1960s by bringing people together in order to end racial segregation in the United States. King included in his Letter From Birmingham Jail that "an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”
The United States Declaration of Independence states that "when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government" Our nation was a phoenix that rose from the ashes of a monarchy through a resistance that had grown into a revolution. The result of our founding fathers resistance was a nation, a nation that held promises of freedom and equality for all of it’s citizens yet bitterly was not at all close to equality and justice for all. The gruesome and haunting past of America's oppressive history lingers in the socio-political infrastructures which control and drive our government and society. Our nation, horrifically and
I consider civil disobedience to be an easily-ignored pillar upon which our democracy was founded. In fact we are only established as a nation now because our founding fathers engaged in civil disobedience themselves. We were in a “social contract” of sorts with Great Britain and when we felt that they had not upheld their part of the contract (they did not allow us to create courts to maintain order, or to create a navy to defend ourselves, or to sustain our economy due to an inability to trade with any other countries), Thomas Jefferson concluded that it was our not only our right, but also our duty to break away. And it was Thomas Jefferson that combined all of the works of the great thinkers before him such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
Like Martin Luther King Jr once said “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” With these words in mind, I affirm the resolution resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified. I offer the following definitions to help clarify the round: Civil disobedience is nonviolent refusal to follow the laws or demands of government to prove a point and the person participating in civil disobedience has to accept the consequences. A democracy is a government by the people, where the people elect representatives or the leader. Not everyone has to vote in a democracy but, the leaders or representatives have to be decided by the majority of eligible voters.
2. Explain the limits, ethical problems involved with, and successes of civil disobedience. Give specific examples from the Great Depression era, the Civil Rights Movement, and contemporary movements (something from the 1980s to the present) that we discussed and read about in class. Also, explain how civil disobedience reflects the relation between morality and the law. •Ethical problems with civil disobedience: Civil disobedience can be a universal concept, in other words, civil disobedience is understood by all; however, civil disobedience has been corrupted and has also been used for hope, risks, and action-good and bad.
The idea of civil disobedience in the hope of making a valuable contribution to one’s cause is an extremely controversial topic. When working towards a common goal, what is considered justifiable and what is considered too far? Many will attest that there is a fine line between standing for your cause and simply committing criminal acts; however, for many Americans, this line is extremely blurry and cannot truly be defined. As young Americans, we are taught that the glorious land and country we live in is unrivaled by any other nation.
No person wants to tread the difficult trail when it would be much easier to follow the herd along the easy route of following laws. Yet, those who still hold passion for moral truths disobey the law when unjust, and this is a true testament to the power of American perseverance. Most recently, the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline have brought more attention to the pipeline. This is another strong effect of civil disobedience. Even when no legal change is brought about immediately, attention to the cause still promotes change for the future.
Civil Disobedience is defined as "a public non-violent and conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies. " The term 'civil disobedience' was coined by Henry David Thoreau in his 1848 essay describing his refusal to pay a state poll tax. There have been many famous acts of civil disobedience including the US Civil Rights Movement that included Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Boston Tea Party, resistance to Apartheid in South Africa, anti-abortion protests, environmental and animal rights, and the list continues. The question is can civil disobedience be a potentially justifiable breach of law that in turn brings about a social change for the greater good?
Civil Disobedience is an important moral responsibility of a citizen, however it should not get to the level of illegal activity under any circumstances, because great reform can be brought peacefully not violently. In the title named "On Civil Disobedience" by Mohandas K. Ghandi once said: “No country has ever become or will ever become, happy though victory in war”(Mohandas K. Gandhi , 148). Even that long ago, when war was at high, and people embraced it, he knew that the only thing war brought was death, and depression among civilians. This method of civil disobedience has only resulted into more wars, and no real solutions. The most efficient way to the be civilly disobedient is to be peaceful, but willing to stand up for your cause.
I think of law as a system we came up with in order to be able to coexist. We tend to believe that laws are incapable of erring but what happens then when these laws endanger everything you believe in. That’s why I think that sometimes is appropriate to disobey them. Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government as a result of moral objections, especially through passive resistance. One case in which civil disobedience would be justified is when people are discriminated against.
John Rawls defines civil disobedience as “a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law... with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government” (Rawls, 1999: 320). Before engaging in political disobedience, nevertheless, one must consider their justifications, such as, “its legality, its use as a last resort, any coordination with other dissenters, the likelihood of success, ... and the expected harm (Brownlee, 2013). Rawls’ liberal model of disobedience insists that civil disobedience can be justified - even in a nearly just society – only if it fulfills four conditions. The four conditions are the principle of injustice, the principle of last resort, and the principle of fairness and the probability of success (Rawls, 1999: 326-331). In Rawls’ liberal account for political disobedience, these four conditions are justified because they limit the majority rule to our fundamental human rights – liberty and equality (cited in Markovits, 2005: 1899).
Despite the fact that acts of civil disobedience may be harmful when isolated or disorderly, they can produce significant, positive effects when occurring in an organized series. Civil disobedience can accomplish a goal, but only when conducted in a repeated, orderly manner. Otherwise, the consequences of acting solely or destructively would outweigh benefit; rebellious actions will not gain the government’s consideration if they cause severe disruption in the public. Antigone 's action of burying her brother was explicitly illegal, but she performed it anyway. When caught, she pleads to Creon, "I beg you: kill me" (Fitts and Fitzgerald 210).
Civil disobedience is defined as obeying a law that is believed to be morally wrong. As a case in point, the women’s suffrage. I believe the woman who chained herself to a fence outside the White House because she could not vote for the President was not immorally wrong. Does this mean that it is actually okay to intentionally disobey and go against the law? We need to become aware that sometimes the laws are made both right and unjust.
All human beings know about civil disobedience, some have even witnessed it throughout history. Civil disobedience is the act to fight for your rights. But there are different kinds of civil disobedient acts. One way is to simply oppose the law without breaking it. One could also break the regulation in order to make a difference.
Tracking back the independence of the United States, we are impressed by First Shot at Lexington, the Boston Tea Party, and Great Victory in Saratoga, in which Americans demonstrated their persistent pursuit of freedom. This civil disobedience was victory and wonderful, laying a foundation for a newborn superpower. However, in modern society, civil disobedience is always inappropriate, regardless in a despotic country or a democratic country. In a despotic country, civil disobedience is ineffective.