"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peaceful resistance is an important part of our free society. It positively impacts and helps shape a more equal and just future for all citizens in the society. Yes, problems still occur even with peaceful resistance and demonstration, but in its simplest form peaceful resistance is a necesity for a free society. Overall, the point is made that change is needed, but no one gets hurt in the process and that is what makes it important. There are some negatives to peaceful demonstration. The problems occur when certain people within the group or society decide to take the resistance to extremes. This creates a negative reputation even for the people who demonstate …show more content…
peacefully. Another negative, people in positions of importance can portray a negative image for a group as a whole. A prime example of this is Colin Kapernick. A tradition since the creation of our great nation (The National Anthem), has been tarnished by one man who decided to peacefully protest against our government.
This caused national uproar and chaos. This song honors the men and women who sacrificed their lives so that we can remain a free society. By sitting down or kneeling during it shows a lack of respect. This is where the fine line between a respectful resistance and a disrespectful one comes into play. These problems that are caused by the rare anomaly in the society should be overlooked for all the good that comes from peaceful disobedience. To distinguish what is right when resisting laws, we must look back to past examples in history for precedents. The core principle of a peaceful protest is peace itself. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most famous examples of civil disobedience in history. He kept things peaceful, but at the same time he accomplished his goals. That is the ultimate goal when peacefully disobeying in a free society. He accomplished an unthinkable challenge with the civil rights movement. To this day, the benefits can still be seen in our current society. All people can participate equally across the nation no matter race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. Like his quote, Dr. King saw injustice and knew justice could not thrive if something was not done about it.
Protests and movements are more common now in America because of him. This is not a bad thing. It does not challenge our democracy, but instead strengthens it. It enriches the society and makes people feel heard. Peaceful movements prevent war, they do not start other wars. They help maintain our natural wildlife and not tear it down. They keep those in charge accountable, but at the same time make the rest of society accountable as well. Peaceful movements unify the nation. They bring Caucasian people to the aid of African American people and vice versa. They bring Christians to the aid of Muslims. They bring women together with men. They bring Americans together with Americans. Best of all they bring people together with people. At this time, our nation needs peace. If change is needed in certain areas, peaceful resistance is beneficial. It makes a point, but still keeps the peace. If we are to survive as a society, change is necessary. It shapes us and molds us into a better version of what we were before. Peaceful disobedience is just one little factor that plays into the overall big picture, but at its roots it is a necessity for the big picture. If we truly want to make America a better place and successful again, we must return to our roots to look for change. We must take what has happened and mold it into a plan for what will happen. My hope is that, the benefits of peaceful resistance to laws inspires change, and that change inspires hope, and that hope will make our free society a better place.
...y shocks most of people who hear and see it, encouraging and moving others who also suffer. In instance, Elena screamed at Longoria to show she would not give them any information about resistances and Antonio when Longoria was about to killing her (Tobar 148). Elena sacrificed her life to protect Antonio and her friends who fought against the Guatemalan government without using any violence when she faced Longoria who tried to kill her. She showed it was important not to be daunted by fear and to keep fighting for justice. Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi advocated nonviolent resistance as a means of seeking peace and gaining independence for the Republic of India from Britain. Justice should be served by means in the name of justice. Nonviolent resistance is a powerful way to fight against the cycle of violence and work towards the realization of a peaceful world.
Peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society because if there isn't, how will people hear the voices of the oppressed and mistreated? Peaceful resistance comes a long way in trying to advance the rights and customs of the oppressed today. For example, The Salt March of 1930 was based on the Salt Act of 1882, which excluded the people the India from producing or getting salt, only British officials. Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of this protest. According to an article by time.com, it says that "The protest continued until Gandhi was granted bargaining rights at a negotiation in London. India didn’t see freedom until 1947, but the salt satyagraha (his brand of civil disobedience) established Gandhi as a force to be reckoned with and set a powerful precedent for future nonviolent protestors, including Martin Luther King Jr.(Sarah Begley,2015)" This means the salt march was a start for India's independence. Also, Gandhi's brand of civil disobedience set precedents for future nonviolent protests. Another Example of how peaceful protests
Clarence Mai Mrs. Chaid ERWC 12 February, 2014 Peace Through Strength No matter how oxymoronic it seems, I strongly agree with the phrase “The only way to prepare for peace is to be prepared for war”. I feel that this relates back to the adage that “the best defense is a good offense”. For me, I view the Cold War as proof that the weapons of war can also be used as instruments of peace. To start off, one of the key ideas behind the tense, yet somewhat stable peace between the Soviet Union and the United States during the second half of the 20th century was the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD.
The 1960’s was one of the most controversial decades in American history because of not only the Vietnam War, but there was an outbreak of protests involving civil and social conditions all across college campuses. These protests have been taken to the extent where people either have died or have been seriously injured. However, during the 1960’s, America saw a popular form of art known as protest music, which responded to the social turmoil of that era, from the civil rights movement to the war in Vietnam. A veritable pantheon of musicians, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan sang their songs to encourage union organizers to protest the inequities of their time, creating a diverse variety of popular protest music, which has reached out to the youthful generations everywhere demanding for a revolutionary change. The protest music took the children of the 1960’s to a completely new different level. Musicians of this generation were not going to sit and do nothing while the government lied to the people about what was going on in Vietnam. Instead, they took their guitar-strumming troubadours from the coffee houses, plugged them in, and sent the music and the message into the college dorm rooms and the homes of the youth of America. However, as decades went by, protest music does not have much of an impact as it use to because of the way things have changed over the years. Through the analysis of the music during the 1960’s, there shall be an understanding on how the different genres of protest music has affected social protesters based on how musicians have become the collective conscience of that generation through their lyrics and music and the main factors that contributed to the lack of popula...
I feel it’s their choice to take a knee because it’s not like their disrupting the song they are not starting a chant and they are not causing a big scene. They’re simply taking a knee during a song it’s really not that big of a deal, it’s not like they’re burning a flag or stomping on the flag or any of that. “The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.” - Wikipedia, They’re simply kneeling to a poem that was named our national anthem.
Peaceful resistance itself does not affect a free society. A people-group can protest any number of laws: voting rights, taxes, and the legality of murder. A majority of society must determine what is best for itself. If the principles of a resistance aligns with the ideals of the society, the pursuit of betterment positively impacts that
If a person want a peaceful protest, then sit at home and use social media to protest and wait for change. However, violent protest raises awareness and get the issue resolved much quicker than just holding hands and chanting. Violent Protest shows the anger and frustration of the person or people. It also shows how people are willing to risk their life by standing by something they believe in. When violence is used during a protest it gets the point across much quicker. Violence cannot be ignored and it forces the authorities or whomever to take notice.
I am inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. in my answer to the original question. A peaceful resistance can make a positive impact on society when a law “degrades human personality”. One must disobey a law that is “not square with the law of moral”. Resist a government that sets laws to take the freedom of groups and individuals, that causes harm and chaos, and does not “cherish the minority”.One must follow suit of our past leaders of change and make a positive impact, they must peacefully
Rebellions often break the law. Breaking laws can lead to further arguments and debates that can spiral on and on forever. It might also endanger the people involved. However, A society can become more united through civil disobedience. Another example from American history, is the long and hard fight for civil rights. Starting with the Montgomery Bus Strike all the way to the March on Washington. Before the start of the strike, Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat, so the black people in Montgomery agreed to refrain from riding the busses until their desire for equal sitting rights was granted. As a whole, they used their strength together to change one law. But, that was only the beginning. Thousands of Americans joined in to march in the nation's capital. A peaceful yet powerful protest to obtain more equal opportunities and rights. Despite their race, everyone joined in to hear Martin Luther King Jr. present his famous “I have a dream” speech. This made an impact on everyone. Not only because at how powerful Martin Luther King Jr”s words were, but because the president took notice. President Kennedy honored the protesters on their cooperativeness. He commemorated everyone who stood together as one to speak up for fights for African Americans. They united together for one cause, which contradicted with the social norms of that
Nonviolence will not antagonize the opposing side, which prevents further issues and more violence from arising that could turn a situation worse. Also an important job of the laws is to protect our safety. So civil disobedience that threatens this safety is not morally justifiable. I also agree with
There are two ways to go with protesting, violent and peaceful protesting. Peaceful protesting is gathering large groups of people not to wreak havoc on cities and hurt people, but to either just simply walk down streets or to break laws. For example,
There are different ways to protest, and the most effective way to do that is by peaceful motives. One problem that has been afflicting our society today is that many people take protests as opportunities to enact mayhem. All too often we see violent protests and riots, not only making those protesters claim seem invalid, but also harming our society.
Peaceful resistance to laws both positively and negatively impact a free society in my opinion. I say this because while the intentions are to be nonviolent and peaceful, when there are many in numbers present in current protest events it leads to non-peaceful outcomes. For instance, in recent events in Denver, Native Americans peacefully protested against a pipeline and it turned violent. It didn’t turn violent by them but because police turned violent toward them. Another example is the march in Dallas when one man turned violent. It negatively impacts a free society because lawmakers assume that we as a nation can no longer conduct ourselves in a civilized manner, or we are unable to come against things we don’t agree with in a nonviolent way.
I strongly feel as though positive resistance has a negative impact within a free society. Some people may strongly disagree with my opinion on the matter, but the issue is much deeper than what meets the eye. It is not the act in which is committed by peaceful protestors, but it is the impact on which it has on those who mean no good to society that have caused me to form such opinion. I strongly agree that peaceful resistance and protest is better than violence however, it also causes uproars within society. There are some people in society that are unconcerned about the welfare of others and have a selfish mentality which causes them to feel as though as long as the circumstances are well for them, that there is no need for justice or change.
The reason why peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society is because a free society does not stand down when harmful laws are manipulating our free civilians. Movement leaders like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Muhammad Ali said no to oppression and accepted the consequences for saying no. They did not lead peaceful resistances that turned into riots. Riots which just destroy communities and create opportunities for criminals to vandalize their hometown as seen with some of BLM (Black Lives Matter) protests. The only way to positively impact a society to make a change is by making a peaceful resistance because violence only leads to more destruction. We can