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Arguments Against Civil Disobedience

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One day in my Honors World History class sophomore year we began to learn about the start of rapid, aggressive imperialism along with the rise of fascism and totalitarian governments. As we delved deeper into this era of history, we began to cover the rise of Hitler and the extermination of the Jews. Like any other person, I could not begin to comprehend how the masses of people, a whole country, would approve of such hate and racist rhetoric. As I continued to try and realize how such actions could be justified, I looked at other examples in history of hate being the norm. I realized this was a pattern in history, exploring slavery, the rule of Stalin, the Armenian Genocide, and other injustices through time. I then asked myself where were …show more content…

I believe that peaceful resistance is detrimental for a free society to be even considered a free society. For one to be free there should be fundamental rights to protest something that you feel is …show more content…

The first thing that goes through our head when someone breaks a law is that that person is morally corrupt. But what if it is not the person that is corrupt but the law? In cases like these, it is in fact the law and it is up to the person, in this case Rosa Parks, to practice the necessary civil disobedience and stand for what is right. Parks states, "You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right" (Rosa Parks and Civil Disobedience). This same disobedience that broke the infamous Jim Crow laws is what led to 381 days of boycotts and reformation. Again, the question that comes is what took so long for change and how people could allow this to happen and most importantly, would it have changed if it was not for this civil disobedience? So to answer the question of whether peaceful protest positively impacts a free society, the answer is yes. Civil disobedience can be the match that ignites protest for what is right. It can be the masses, or the few, that decide to disobey what they feel is not right but the right to disobey should be protected in order to ensure that a society is obeying and working for the

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When it comes to America's History you can clearly see how peaceful protest has brought this world to what it is today. If it wasn't for people such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks who voiced their opinions in a nonviolent manner, it's possible that our world would not have reached this equivalent state. While it is true that peaceful resistance has positively affected our society for centuries, these brave people have faced the consequences. For example, King was arrested after one of his nonviolent protests and sent to Birmingham Jail. While there he wrote the now famous piece "A Letter From Birmingham Jail".

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. "-Socrates. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because the society is not free unless it's able to check the government. As long as the protest of the law remains peaceful it is a good thing. It is the public telling the government that they will not let them gain to much power and crush their human rights.

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Peaceful resistance to laws positively affect a free society. Throughout history, there have been multiple cases of both violent and peaceful protests. However, the peaceful protests are the ones that tend to stick with a society and are the ones that change the society for the better. In April 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter about just and unjust laws while he was in Birmingham jail for peacefully protesting. King came to Birmingham because "injustice is here".

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Peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society because it helps get people's points across, without breaking any rules. People are allowed to voice there opinion, without causing any physical harm to themselves, or anyone around them. Many equal right came about during peaceful resistances. Thomas Jefferson is an example of that. He led a revolution, and changed the lives of millions of African Americans, then and now.

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The Pros And Cons Of Civil Disobedience

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Throughout history, people had many views of how the US government should be followed or not. We had Samuel Adams who supported that inhabitants must follow the government and people like Thomas Paine and Henry David Thoreau who supported that the government must follow the people. Civil disobedience also comes to mind when defying the government. People question if it 's safe or not or whether it is allowed because of the consequences. These three historical figures each has a different perspective how the government should be handled.

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I think that peaceful resistance is a form to express oneself like how Rosa parks, Cesar Chavez, Bree and the Confederate flag and so much more attempted to do. Rosa parks an african american women who was just really tired

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Comparing Crito And King's Argument Against Civil Disobedience

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In the Crito by Plato, Socrates argues against civil disobedience, seeing it as an unjust act. Contrasting this view, Martin Luther King argues for civil disobedience against unjust laws, and seeing it as a responsibility of citizens. Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain law, commands or requests of the government. I will argue that the view of Socrates is superior to the view of Martin Luther King on the justness of civil disobedience. Using the argument against harm, I will show that even if a law is viewed as unjust, you must not repay an evil with another evil, as evident in the Crito while contrary to ideas presented by MLK.

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The problem starts when those protests turn to riots, and property damage and theft occurs. After a while, the media stopped showcasing cases of what some call police brutality. It is plausible to say that the protests positively impacted a free society. Other protests that occurred in the history of our nation are those

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Summary: The Case Against Civil Disobedience

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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

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The consequences of peaceful protesting is, the marchers from Selma to Montgomery, had to go back and march three times. The first march wasn 't what they wanted to achieve and got sent back to the bridge. The second march was when they were crossing the bridge. The police officers attacked them with stick, teargas, clubs, arrested innocent people, guns were fired, knocked people to the ground, whips, rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire was a weapon that the police officers whipped at the marchers. The third time they went to march, they won Federal Protection and they successfully marched for their cause.

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The Role Of Peaceful Resistance In The Civil Rights Movement

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Peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society. In the case of the Civil Rights Movement, peaceful resistance led to desegregation. Civil disobedience aided in the decision of Brown v. Topeka which overturned the “separate but equal” decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy disobeyed a Louisiana law by not sitting in a Jim Crow car. This civil disobedience led to the Supreme Court decision.

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Arguments For Civil Disobedience

724 Words | 3 Pages

Despite the historical acceptance of civil disobedience, there is no universally accepted definition. For this argument, we will adopt a concept of civil disobedience that is characterized by a specific set of criteria; the act must be “nonviolent, open and visible, illegal, and done with the moral purpose to protest an unjust law” ( ). In this way, “mere dissent”, “protest”, or “disobedience” for the law does not qualify. A proponent for civil disobedience would suggest that there are situations in which this form of protest is necessary for society; however, there are many opponents of it who claim that it is unjustified. Ancient philosophers, like Socrates, believed that there could be no moral justification for civil disobedience.

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How Is Civil Disobedience Effective

1251 Words | 6 Pages

Using nonviolent resistance does not include killing off anyone that doesn’t share the same opinion, it is simply protesting to prove and persuade a need for change. Also, peacefully protesting attracts attention from all over the world; thus, educating more people about a serious issue in society. If no one takes action, no one will realize the problem and it’ll only continue to grow. Also, many political leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are extremely known for their delightful use of civil disobedience. Even better, all of them were successful in bringing about a change in society.

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Unjust Laws In Civil Disobedience

1660 Words | 7 Pages

Civil disobedience is the deliberate action against an unjust law to invoke a positive change in government and society. Civilians have the right to refute these types of unjust laws to eliminate inequality and government’s unjust nature by following conscience before laws for moral guidance. As demonstrated in Antigone, this is depicted by the daughter of Oedipus, who disobeys Creon’s law for the greater good because of the laws unjust nature. In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist, promotes this concept as well through his philosophical standpoint of the flaws of the government. Lastly, in Dr. King’s letter he qualifies the idea of civilians disobeying their government through non violent campaigns to stand up against

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Argumentative Essay On Peaceful Resistance

794 Words | 4 Pages

Peaceful Resistance no matter what way you look at it, it 's still going against someone whether it involves words or actions, resistance still causes more conflict. The last 5 years we have had people say they want change through these “peaceful protest” but these peaceful protests have done nothing but turn to violent riots were theirs damage to vehicles, business families rely on destroyed, bystanders hurt, officers killed and our country torn apart. Back when Martian Luther King Jr was around and he had his Peaceful Resistance or rallies for equality, they were peaceful and brought our country together with something that needed to be changed, but the protest we’ve had the last 5 years… he would be ashamed of. Peaceful Resistance to laws does negatively impact our free society in America. First going along with what I said about there being “peaceful rallies” even though some people may be at these rallies to make a difference to support their opinion, not everyone can respect that.

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