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Martin Luther's Notion Of Just Laws And Unjust Laws

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Considering the time that has passed since Martin Luther’s “Letter from Birmingham” in 1963 the American judiciary system and how laws are made and passed today create differences between Martin Luther’s notion of “just laws” and “unjust laws” and what to do about “unjust laws” compared to modern law. It can be noted that Martin Luther and other civil activists’ in the US have played a significant role pertaining to the US and its approach on how to stop and condemn racism through changes made over the years. Modern law while it is believed to be the best that serves society and peoples’ rights, however, even today we can see many issues that result from creating laws. Martin Luther’s notions of laws resulting from morale, universal good, and …show more content…

In the 1960’s and previous times before that many laws in America enforced or passed overlooked the effects they have on black people subjecting them to harsh and unethical treatment. In modern law segregation and racism are issues within constitutional bills that have been passed to combat them. The distinct difference between the 1960’s and modern society is that issues such as racism and segregation, along with racial injustices, are acts that cannot be committed without the disapproval of those who live in a democratic society. Specific aspects of Martin Luther’s distinctions pertaining to “just laws” and “unjust laws” are valid for modern law and even beyond today’s time, however, modern laws are also complex and modern issues are newer problems that society faces today that creates a conflict between Martin Luther distinctions. Morale is still a factor in creating laws today, but it can be noted that one’s morale and perception of laws are not always the obsolete decision, as seen through the controversial decisions revolved around abortion or gay marriage, along with many other problems we deal with today. What makes Martin Luther partially right in his distinctions is time because the issues that he had felt were “unjust” in the 1960’s were serious involving the segregation and unfair treatment of an entire race based on their skin color. Today, the newer problems that plague society cannot all be resolved through moral decisions because there are much more complex than those of Martin Luther’s time being obvious acts of harm done to black people with one knowing what they are doing.

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Mary Dyer’s claims in The Silencing of Mary Dyer directly supports Martin Luther King Jr.’s statements that had been made 300 years later. King’s statement declares, “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” By analyzing and dissecting this, numerous aspects of Mary Dyer’s life and actions could validate the quote. King’s first component of his statement expresses that, “an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice...” Evidence written throughout The Silencing of Mary Dyer helps exemplify this statement.

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269 Words | 2 Pages

Social activist, Martin Luther King Jr, in his letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, addresses the exigency of changing segregation laws. King’s purpose is to emphasize the damage the segregation laws have brought upon black people. He adopts an urgent tone in order to establish that he is tired of waiting for change to occur in his clergymen readers. King appeals to emotion in his letter to the clergymen from Birmingham by declaring that he is tired of hearing the world “wait” by the people who have never felt the effects of the segregation laws.

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733 Words | 3 Pages

Dr. King compares the slow pace at which the south is desegregating to a “stiff creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter” (2). Dr. King uses a comparison between what Adolf Hitler did in Germany and how “It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany” to what he is making and effort to do in the south (5). He also compared arresting a Robber before he has committed the crime to arresting peaceful protestors “because they precipitate violence” (5). All of Dr. King’s similes venture to show how segregation is morally unjust and

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1304 Words | 6 Pages

Overcoming injustice and oppression is a difficult thing to do. Overcoming institutional, century’s old, outright and abject injustice and oppression is another animal all together. In a letter written from his Birmingham jail cell, Dr. King weaves philosophical ideals and scriptural/moral principles into a fabric of reason which absolutely decimates the foundations of segregation and its active or tacit supporters. While providing clear proof of his deep understanding of the issue at hand, Dr. King authors a moving yet emotionally grounded appeal to his fellow man about their sense of justice, morality, responsibility, and motive in placing one race above another.

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407 Words | 2 Pages

Unjust vs. Just Laws In Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, he addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” To answer this question, we have to understand the two types of laws: just and unjust. A just law typically upholds justice, equality, and the well-being of all individuals. Whereas an unjust law is a law that does not align with moral or ethical principles.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

In Dr.king’s open letter he states that segregation is “an existential expression of man’s tragic separation”(8) of the blacks and whites in the south. The discomfort emphasized in this open letter reflects off of the unjust laws made for the blacks in south. Although, that Dr.king uses nonviolent action to solve problems that he and the blacks are facing in the south, the south continued to use unjust laws and methods to prevent the blacks from peacefully protesting against segregation. The unjust laws that the whites created to cause segregation is what really gives Dr.king the discomfort he expresses in this open letter because it allows the whites to do whatever they feel is possible to make the blacks feel like they aren’t human and by allowing them to do such inhumane things to them gives the whites a feeling of superiority that is not real. The feeling of discomfort that is expressed in this open letter by Dr.King forced him to act accordingly on the issue of segregation created by the unjust laws of the

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847 Words | 4 Pages

King was confident that his ethical reputation would enable him to persuade those in authority to end segregation, and he urged the clergy to examine their hearts before condemning him. Using a compare and contrast strategy, King (1963) demonstrates his disheartened view of the Church, despite the love and affection that he also had for it (p. 2). Further, he describes his connections with the early leaders of civil disobedience who were punished for transgressions against the moral law (p. 7). In his letter, King (1963) stated that "Justice too long delayed, is justice denied." (pp. 5-6).

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1143 Words | 5 Pages

(King 803) Who legitimizes the laws that are to be obeyed and the ones that are to be broken? How is it rational for a majority to take away rights that we as human beings are all born with? For those who do not believe on God-given rights Dr. King provides an even more rational and logical approach, “but such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. ”(King 804)

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1120 Words | 5 Pages

This makes a logical appeal between laws; the ones that apply to everyone are fair, while the ones that specifically apply to certain groups are not. With these words, King makes the readers see the process behind how he identified Birmingham’s law as unfair. To back up his thinking for his responses to unfair laws, he shares the events in history when logic almost the same as his own was used. “To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.”

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540 Words | 3 Pages

In response to the ill-informed and “unwise” “clergymen”, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letters to Birmingham” and illustrated the cognizant and fitting demonstration -that was aimed to further dispel the hateful, horrific segregation of African- Americans and White persons- which ultimately led the police to violate the peaceful demonstration with “attack dogs” and “high-pressure fire hoses” and thus is confirmation for King’s just actions, fueled by alienation brought on by white power. King appeals to his readers’ emotions by highlighting the “340 years” African- Americans have waited for their “constitutional and God- given rights”. He goes on to illustrate the horrors of being black in White America, writing of watching his

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1764 Words | 8 Pages

As we just celebrated the forty months anniversary of the Black History Month, it is an important observance to commemorate the contributions and achievements of the African Americans in the American history. Historically, during the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans are the most vulnerable ethnic group who suffers from injustice in the social and political spheres of influence. However, social justice advocates such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X express their criticism in their pieces of writings for the unjust treatment that these African Americans endure. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is a response to the clergymen’s letter in which he talks about defending the nonviolent direct actions and showing

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873 Words | 4 Pages

Kian Yuen Mr. Hendricks American Literature 4 March 2024 Unjust Situations Create an Identity Justice is the idea that people should be treated in a fair governing system through the law. Justice is created because certain governments or rulers give their people unfair rules to satisfy their interests. People feel a sense of injustice when they feel stuck or unable to express themselves in society. In Martin Luther King Jr “Letter From Birmingham Jail” he discusses how several people from the black community want change but feel unable to do it due to unjust laws created by the United States government against African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter From Birmingham Jail gives readers a sense of identity through the experiences African

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495 Words | 2 Pages

Gabriella Protash Mrs. Dryden Honors American Lit & Comp April 23, 2023 Amendments & Aphorisms Is it possible to compare two random texts to one another by using amendments and aphorisms? Well, the answer is yes. You can do so by looking for the key theme even by one word.

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Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.

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825 Words | 4 Pages

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. states, "it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws;" this statement corresponds with Dr. King Jr.  agreeing with St. Augustine’s statement that "an unjust law is no law at all." In 1954 during the

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