Natural Law Philosophy And Acts Of Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey the demands or certain laws of a government/ occupying power. Without resorting to violence or active events of conflict, it is typically used in the form of a peaceful protest. Civil disobedience has been seen in historical context as a main approach and philosophy of nationalist movements in Africa, India, and also in the American civil rights movement. It can also be a useful tactic in labor, anti-war, and other social movements occurring in numerous countries around the world. In both Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, the author describes two very different displays of civil disobedience. Antigone disobeyed “man’s law” and buried her brother. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the other hand, fought to change the law for the rights of a large group of people. For this reason, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts were more admirable than the efforts of Antigone.

From the monarchs of the ancient era to the democracy of today, order has been maintained by means of rules and regulations known as laws. Compliance with these laws is enforced through punishments ranging in severity according to the crimes committed to reduce violence and misconduct from individuals within a society. However, just as citizens consent to abide by the laws of the state in which they reside, one is compelled to preserve justice and condemn the unjust decisions of man when the social contract contradicts the laws sanctioned by God. Approaching this conflict between natural and manmade laws in a non-violent manner is called “civil disobedience”.

Brilliantly put by what many deem to be America’s greatest president of all time, Abraham Lincoln, “Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children’s liberty.” Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to comply with certain laws as a form of political protest. Although many may argue that this is the sole way to keep the government in check and to make minorities heard, rational people will realize that it is not this disrespect of the law that proves the democracy of our nation.

Civil Disobedience is classified as the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. This idea was brought into focus in the essay “Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience)” by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s opinion on the subject was that the government was involved in everyone’s business, trying to make the country better yet they had the opposite effect. His opinion was that there is a need to prioritize one’s conscious over the dictates of law. Though there are many things that Thoreau touches on, the three main issues that he discussed were The Mexican war, slavery, and the taxes that he was protesting against.

Civil disobedience spawns a major and widely debated issue by many who established by well-known intelligent scholars and many examples of civil disobedience become displayed. The acts of civil disobedience can be noted in major works such as Sophocles?s Antigone, King?s ?Letter from Birmingham Jail?, or even from Plato?s ?from Crito?. A specific claim exemplified throughout these works make that civil disobedience races in gaining popularity and should remain allowed, and continued to be seen as a solution to reform poorly established laws. A claim represented is, civil disobedience is right. Rhetorically, appeals such

America was founded on a principle of civil disobedience. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers set forth a powerful precedent. The Declaration said in part, that when institutions of government becomes destructive or abusive of unalienable rights, it is the right of the people to alter it or to abolish it. The history of our nation tells us that civil disobedience is a civic responsibility, and in the alleged words of Thomas Jefferson, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”. From the Boston Tea Party to the Stonewall Riots, the United States Constitution and advances in racial, social, and gender equality support the idea that peaceful resistance positively contributes to a freer society, and a more equitable America.

Have you ever felt a rule you had to follow was unjust? Have you ever felt your moral instinct tell you not to follow it? Prominent figures in American history, Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, felt this way and decided to not follow the rules imposed on them by indulging in “civil disobedience”. Civil disobedience is the act of peacefully disobeying laws or customs with the purpose of combating moral injustice. This form of protest has proven to be quite effective in making change in history. In “Civil Disobedience” and the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, both Thoreau and King Jr. write their justification for their actions as well as their feelings regarding the particular disputed

Some agree with the ideas of Henry Thoreau in his literary work “Civil Disobedience,” in this work he discusses the need to prioritize one’s conscience over that of the law. It is felt that the government is seldom useful and it receives its power from the majority because they are the strongest and not because they are correct. He believes that people should do what they feel is right and not what is demanded by the law. Although it is sometimes felt that petitioning your disagreement with the law achieves little, it is a necessary step when trying to change the law.

Civil disobedience and peaceful resistance to laws have instigated within our country, in so many instances, much-needed change. The Boston Tea Party, the Suffragettes, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement are only a few examples of times that civil disobedience has redefined our country. Without peaceful resistance to laws on moral or political grounds, the citizens of the United States would not have many of the freedoms we value.

As a citizen, one often faces the moral dilemma of whether to abide by the laws they disagree or whether not to. The Crito, written by Plato, and Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, explain and defend their claims on what to do when one encounters this moral dilemma. The Crito argues that one should not break the laws because to break one law is to break all of the laws. Civil Disobedience argues that majorities should not determine whether to make the people of a society follow a law, but ones conscience should determine whether they should follow the laws. The Crito is correct in the fact that one should follow the laws because they are laws, and if broken, essentially all of them are broken; the laws are put in place to conduct society and one does not get to pick and choose which ones to follow and which ones not to.

In the United States Constitution we the people were given a right to freedom of speech. People have taken to this right given to us by the Founding Fathers. But, one problem rises to the top with a right that has so much freedom, civil disobedience. It’s a topic that we are seeing more of in our society today. Civil disobedience is a threat against our free society due to people not taking our laws serious enough.

Civil disobedience is one of the most peaceful ways to protest an unjust law in a free society and allows individuals to bring a law under public scrutiny. Free societies allow every citizen to make their opinion known and published, but if an important opinion is published in a smaller newspaper, it may not receive much attention or consideration. Civil disobedience is necessary because it brings attention to injustice by actively demonstrating oppression and mistreatment. The phrase "actions speak louder than words" is common, but not only do actions speak louder than words, but throughout history they have proven to be the only main way to push others in a society to action.

A man once said, “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. ” And in order to make any necessary changes to the unjust law, you must use civil disobedience. Due to the fact that civil disobedience might be the only way one can express how one feels about the situation, while gathering public’s approval, in order to make the adjustments. As first demonstrated in Sophocles’ Antigone, the concept of civil disobedience can be defined as defying a law that is unjust with one’s morals. Along with evidence from a variety of other sources on civil disobedience, such as The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery, Analysis of Plato’s Crito on Sparknotes, BBC News’ Ukraine marks Orange Revolution, and David Thoreau’s

From the time we are children and throughout the duration of our lives, we are told to abide by certain sets of rules. In most situations this is a perfectly acceptable expectation; speed limits, remaining quiet in libraries, and waiting until the age of twenty-one to drink are all reasonable things to ask of people. After all, these rules and laws are put in place to ensure a peaceful and safe society. However, when these rules begin to infringe upon the rights of certain groups, some citizens turn to civil disobedience as a form of protest. While some may argue that civil disobedience is nothing more than a violation of the law, it has also proven to have a positive impact on society, in more ways than one. Used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin

Ban animal cruelty! Give aid to the poor! Save the rainforests! Obey the law! As a human race we must strive to fulfill these commands, for they are our moral duties and obligations. Our obligation to morality sometimes leads to a dilemma. What happens when a law contradicts the morally right thing to do? Would it be moral to act illegally by breaking the law? No matter how drastic the measure, we are still required to act morally--even if one must break the law to do so. But why is it so important to be moral that one could justify something as serious as breaking the law?