Disobedience is the most virtuous trait of the human being. How can this be? Since birth, humans are taught to follow the rules and laws. With order and compliance, there exists serenity and complacency. As a child, rules are simple and teach fundamental lessons of responsibility and honesty. As an adult, technical legislation replaces simple rules, but serves the same purpose of keeping society safe and functional. But there is a caveat: not all legislation, or societal norms for that matter, are in the best interest for all people. Oppression, discrimination, and false knowledge have perpetuated through unjust rules and beliefs, regardless of era, geographic location, or demographic. By means of rebelling against established laws or conventional …show more content…
While not supported in every instance, disobedience is an evident catalyst for positive change in society. Disobedience leads to greater social equality, deeper human knowledge, and the creation of new religion. For hundreds and even thousands of years, human beings have struggled with the concept of social equality, whether it be in the form of gender, race, cultural practices, or economic status. With the hope of altering the societal structure against them, the oppressed often resolve to disobedience in order to bring awareness and action to their mistreatment. Historically, the defiance of the African-American civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, generated an unprecedented call for the social equality of African-Americans. Beginning in the 1890s, southern United States legislators passed segregational laws, which became known as Jim Crow laws. Flagrantly unjust, these laws mandated a “separate but equal” status to all African-Americans, which resulted in separate, inferior public facilities for …show more content…
Like any human behavior, the ramifications of disobedience are not always beneficial to society. In fact, there are countless occurrences in which incredible devastation has sprung from disobeying laws, beliefs, or ideas. The Islamic State (IS), is a jihadist militant terrorist group that believes in an extremist doctrine of Islam. Argued against by Muslim scholars and theologians, IS has disobeyed the fundamental ways of Islam. Moreover, IS is responsible for the escalating strife, turmoil, and dissension across the globe, the deaths of thousands of innocent humans, and the overwhelming migration of hundreds of thousands of Middle-Eastern refugees. All of these consequences of the Islamic State's’ actions are undeniable proof that disobedience fails to bring positive change to the global population. A second detriment of disobedience is its inefficacy when eclipsed by violence. Not limited to the specificity of disobedience, original causes or intentions for doing something can be lost when violence commandeers the situation; what initially had meaningful purpose deteriorates into divisive action. The police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the subsequent riots, is a prime indication of how disobedience leads to negative change. On August
According to Oscar Wilde, disobedience is a valuable human trait that promotes social progress. Civil disobedience allows for the unification of various groups to fight towards a common goal, often resulting in change. Historically, there has been much evidence supporting Wilde’s claim. Significant examples of disobedience that led to social progress include the Boston Tea Party, the Salt March, and the Civil Rights Movement.
One of the greatest feelings in the world is going against the grain of society and the universal fear to be different than the rest. Whether you are sparked by your own fire, or someone else’s, breaking the status quo to be diverse enhances progress. Oscar Wilde once said, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” This quote sparks interest due to disobedience often containing a negative connotation. However, in this quote disobedience is honorable, and to be called disobedient is a compliment. According to Wilde, disobedience is beneficial and without it, social progress could not be made. Without
Dworkin takes a categorical approach to civil disobedience, by breaking it down into a number of different types then applying certain conditions to each type to assess wether the disobedience should be allowed or not. He states that there are three different types of disobedience based on the motivations behind the action. These are integrity based, justice based and policy based civil disobedience. Briefly, integrity based disobedience is motivated when the law requires people to do something that goes against their personal integrity and is usually a matter of urgency. Dworkin gives an example of this as the Northern American citizen who covertly harbours and shelters slaves from the Southern citizens in violation of the Fugitive Slave Act.# The second type of disobedience, justice based, is motivated by a peoples desire to oppose unjust policy in the hopes of reversing the policy, for example the civilian protest about the war in Iraq recently. Thirdly, policy based disobedience is somewhat different to the first two in that it is usually activated by minority groups who think a policy is dangerously unwise. As Dworkin puts it ?they think they know what is in the majority?s own interests.?
Despite the belief that fighting with violence is effective, civil disobedience has been tried throughout history and been successful. Fighting violence with violence leaves no oppertunity for peace to work. By refusing to fight back violently, Martin Luther King Jr. took a race of people, taught them the value of their voice, and they earned the right to vote. Henry David Thoreau presented his doctrine that no man should cooperate with laws that are unjust, but, he must be willing to accept the punishment society sets for breaking those laws, and hundreds of years later, people are still inspired by his words. Mohandas K. Gandhi lead an entire country to its freedom, using only his morals and faith to guide him, as well as those who followed him, proving that one man can make a difference. Civil disobedience is the single tool that any person can use to fight for what they want, and they will be heard. After centuries of questioning it, it appears that the pen truly is mightier than the sword.
The most recent transcendentalist, Martin Luther King Jr., tells us that civil disobedience is the most right way to deal with unjust laws. “… One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Mr. King is confessing that everyone has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws but transcendentalism illustrates how to do so in a peaceful non-violent way that will gain the respect of others (King). Morals are the basis of responsibility and a person’s moral compass is already calibrated to the right direction of what is right and what is wrong. Consciously, “One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with the willingness to accept penalty.”(King) Willing to receive punishment for what he believed in said a lot about his character but how he responded to such punishment really exhibited that he is a transcend list and not an average Joe. MLK JR not only popularized the idea of transcendentalism but showed the American people that not all wars are won with deadly weapons.
In New York during the 1940’s a non-violent act of civil disobedience occurred among blacks to protest segregation laws. Blacks were not allowed to live in white neighborhoods, had to ride in the back of buses, lived in poverty with poor schools, and were frequently beaten by police.
I think there are always times when disobeying a law is morally justified. "They are sometimes unfair and repressive; common sense, social custom, and religion already provide enough guidance; and morality can never be legislated" (Kessler 154). Thoreau argued that any given law is not as high or not above what you believe in or what your conscious tells you is right. "We all have a moral duty to obey our consciences" (Kessler 154). I believe it is very clear how I stand on the subject of civil disobedience. After researching this topic and formulating my own opinions I have learned a great deal about my morals and myself. It simply shocks me when I think of the accomplishments of people like King, Gandhi, and Thoreau.
Many people choose to use violence in their own ways to achieve the goals they have set upon themselves. But are there situations where violent disobedience is ever justified? You might be thinking, what is violent disobedience? Violent disobedience is the act of breaking a rule placed upon oneself, ready to accept any punishment that is to come to thee. You could violently disobey anyone such as the police, your parents, and even yourself. I believe only in certain situations one should be allowed to violently disobey an order give to him or her. No matter, one must accept ones hardships with outstanding stoicism to be able to succeed in controlling your actions for the greater good.
...rom the Declaration of Independence to the civil rights movement, civil disobedience has been a great tribute to the progression of humanity in striving for equal treatments, only when it does not physically harm others, nor their properties, and also when it does not contravene an already enforced just law. Those who follow civil disobedience properly, find it necessary, like King and his followers, to endure struggle and conflict in order to correct an injustice. Those true civil disobedients find strength of non violence which comes from their willingness to take risks without threatening others, or their properties. They see civil disobedience as an attribute which can help them when law and justice don't go hand in hand. Civil disobedience when used improperly can hurt many people, however when used properly can help gain equal rights and justice for all.
The Act of Civil Disobedience in the eyes of the beholder is righteous and should be tolerated by many different governments all over the world, unfortunately when you act against the government there will be consequences for your actions even though you are composed and not dangerous to anyone. People may also say this disobedience is negative because humans can go into a primitive mode that makes them lose control and the same can go with the rest of the group. Cases of civil disobedience have grown to new height and will not stop until the people have their say in the matter at hand. Leaders in the past like Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr have had a positive impact in this world and allowed many men and women to stand up for what's right in today's society.
Humanity has always had some way or another of expressing disobedience. Many ways today involve humans being civil disobedient. Which involves protesting in a non-violent way that is reasonable. In other words it goes against one or more then one person's morals. The definition for civil disobedience in a nutshell is the refusal against government standards that go against one's morals, yet it must have guidelines including noviolence protestings as well as reasonable support of peers. Without these things it just becomes outrageous, dangerous, unnecessary, and ineffective.
The institutionalised violence and murder of young Americans with dreams of a better future enraged Americans nationwide calling forth and demanding a change. The call for change began with an African American taking a seat in a restaurant or another public building as a demonstration of peaceful civil disobedience. Civil disobedience as a whole has been a positive addition to our free society because people can see that there is a problem worth their attention. Doing is more effective and attention grabbing than just saying what one believes in and actions speak louder than words for a reason. According to Newton's laws of motion, objections at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force. That outside force can be one person who does one thing that may seem insignificant but as that motion gains momentum, when the object hits its target, the impact will be far too large to ignore. Though civil disobedience may be illegal, as time progresses our laws need to progress with
I think civil disobedience is an effective means to creating change. Civil disobedience gets the message across and it can bring about change. Violence cannot fix any problem, as it leads to more violence and more hatred. On the other hand, civil disobedience is a way to show the enemy that you do not hate them, but you hate what they are doing or claiming. In addition, civil disobedience shows the opponent that you are willing to let them do anything to you, as long as there is a change brought about for the better. Also, another benefit of using civil disobedience is that people who practice it are showing that they are serious about what they want. They are prepared to go to any extremes of listening to the other party, and only for their own beliefs and against what they know is wrong. This can send a very powerful response, and bring about a positive change.
Many people automatically label disobedience as a negative trait or claim that it supports civil disturbance and shows lack of character, but there are others who would rank disobedience as one of the most important traits of mankind. Oscar Wilde, an Irish author from the 19th century, wrote that disobedience, “...is man’s original virtue,” and that disobedience is what drives progress in society. I agree that without disobedient rebels we would not have advanced as far as we have in social standards, but disrespecting and disregarding the rules all of the time is a pathway to catastrophe.
One believes that faith in Jesus Christ is needed because Jesus Christ is going to be faithful to His calling. Jesus is the Word of God, and God said, when He send out His Word, it will perform what He sent it out to do., Iit will not return void. Jesus is our salvation and must be faithful to His calling. Even when His flesh is crying out, it want to give up and quit, the spirit of God that is