What do people do when their personal beliefs conflict with the laws of their society? Within the ancient Greek play Antigone by Sophocles as well as modern controversial issues in the world today, both have a related underlying argument. When people feel their personal beliefs are in conflict with the laws of their society, most of the time they will defy authority, protest and/or simply follow the law.
Throughout time in society, the personal beliefs of people have been in contention with the laws of their particular society; therefore, sometimes they will defy authority. In Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone defies Creon, the present king of Thebes and her uncle, by engaging in a public quarrel with him. Antigone recalcitrantly believes that “there are honors due all the dead.” Antigone’s personal beliefs over how the dead should be honored is conflict with the law of Thebes’s society. In a similar manner, Native Americans, particularly ones of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe,
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At many times people will just follow a law even if their personal beliefs are in conflict with that particular law. In Antigone by Sophocles, Ismene, Antigone’s sister and Creon’s niece, decides to follow the law not to bury Polyneices. Antigone, in disbelief, claims that Ismene that “the laws of the god mean nothing” to her. Ismene replies back to Antigone that the laws of the gods “mean a great deal to me, but I have no strength To break laws that were made for the public good.” Ismene does not believe in the law to not be able to bury Polyneices, but she still follows the law. Most children in schools under a dress code will be in compliance with the school’s policy to prevent themselves any “punishment,” “typically being removed from class or sent home.” Even if the students disagree with the school’s dress code policy, most will school to follow