Henry David Thoreau's The Act Of Civil Disobedience

The act of civil disobedience is described as the peaceful refusal to obey with specific laws or pay taxes or fines in response to a political or social issue. American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau discussed such an act in his essay Resistance to Civil Government. Thoreau believes that sometimes-unlawful action is needed for social change, but he is not an advocate for violence and rather avoids it. During the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King practiced civil disobedience in a similar fashion to Thoreau. Another significant protest in the turbulent 1990s had taken place in Vietnam, which was under Ngo Dinh Diem’s reign. During Diem’s incumbency, Buddhists face persecution. In response to this, Thích Quảng Đức protested by self-immolation,

Quang Duc’s self-immolation had received little regard from religious scholars, it has been perceived in a religious and political view. In one aspect, Quang Duc’s self-immolation was described as a religious suicide and is justified by Chinese Buddhist documents recorded between the fifth and tenth centuries C.E (“The Self-Immolation”). On the other hand, Thich Nhat Hnah and Russell McCutcheon have described the act as political because it “aimed at calling attention to the injustices being perpetrated against the South Vietnamese…” (The Self-Immolation”). Jan Yiin-Hua, the author of History of Religions, had even questioned if Quang Duc’s actions were considered Buddhist due to Buddhism’s strict rule against killing or suicide. Despite the debates sparked about Quang Duc’s death, it had greatly impacted the

The protest against Diem can be considered successful, despite Quang Duc giving up his life. Quang Duc’s self-immolation furthered the United States’ confidence in Diem and his government. However, the photo of Quang Duc’s self-immolation could be considered to leading to negative effects, such as the political chaos in Vietnam and the United States’ heavily involvement. The Vietnam War’s violence and bloodshed lead to Americans like Norman Morrison, Alice Herz, and Roger Allen LaPorte protesting in the same fashion as Quang Duc. Perhaps, even Henry David Thoreau would agree with Quang Duc’s decision to self-immolate because it was against an oppressive government and its laws. After all, Thoreau did argue that the best way to go against a government was to civilly protest, whether it is to stop paying taxes or you burn