Throughout history, changes and movements have come in many different and unexpected forms. One form of change, disobedience, has continued to dominate the others in terms of effectiveness. Some of the greatest alterations made to the world have stemmed from some form of disobedience, such as the founding of the protestant church under Martin Luther and English Reformation. Often, the disobedience resulted from conflicting religious beliefs and interpretations of religious works. The history and formation of the United States of American provide an example of how disobedience shapes a nation. Disobedience of unjust laws, based on divine authority, laid the foundation of the American identity. Disobedience shaped the identity of the United …show more content…
While the government the founding fathers established had a purpose of protecting the divine rights granted to man, more issues arose due to the inability of the government to fully protect all human rights. Jefferson stated in The Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal,” (Jefferson, 2014, p. 108). However, the government did not uphold this ideal. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, encouraged Americans to practice civil disobedience to attempt to make a change in the treatment the African-American people endured under the ideals of the government. Segregation laws were considered unjust under the divine law. They encouraged the unfair treatment of American citizens based solely on the color of their skin. A portion of the American identity established by the revolution, was an intolerance to unjust laws and actions. King explains in his Letter from Birmingham Jail that “injustice anywhere is a treat to justice everywhere,” (King, 2014b, p. 141). Therefore, the citizens had a duty to disobey injustice to achieve justice. However, disobedience only applies with unjust laws. According to King, “an unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law,” (King, 2014b, p. 144). Kings considers any law that does not align with the teachings of the Lord or the natural rights that all men possess as unjust. This echoes the ideas of the Founding Fathers that the British government defied the rights of the colonists. The American identity established during the founding of the nation, seems to accept the use of disobedience of unjust laws as a method of improving the American state. Without this disobedience, American citizens would lack an effective way to establish their dissatisfaction with the state of the
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received a Nobel Prize and was honored by the President of the United States for his contributions to society. On the other hand, he was prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, and had his sentence had to be reaffirmed by the Supreme Court. It is hard to understand why he was incarcerated if what he did was noble. When we take into account these manifestations of the government's attitude towards Martin Luther King, we can safely make the assumption that the government is not always justified in the laws that it creates. Our government's original purpose was to keep order and ensure freedom to its people.
The idea of challenging an unreasonable law is central to both King, Jr.'s and Thoreau's plights, though each have very distinct characteristics unique to themselves. In King, Jr.'s case, he saw segregation and racial discrimination as mistakes on the part of the government and he set out to make substantial changes to the status quo. In doing so, he acted upon Thoreau's concept that every person retains the right to judge civil laws for decency and credibility. "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws," (Birmingham Jail 82). Should one find the law to be in the best interest of each individual as well as society as a whole, he should abide by it and make every effort to live by its standard. But reversely, should the law be found guilty of evil intentions and causing more harm than good, it is the duty of every person under that law to disregard it and make an attempt "to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support," (Disobedience 6).
Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau each write exemplary persuasive essays that depict social injustice and discuss civil disobedience, which is the refusal to comply with the law in order to prove a point. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King speaks to a specific audience: the African Americans, and discusses why he feels they should bring an end to segregation. Thoreau on the other hand, in “Civil Disobedience,” speaks to a broader, non-addressed audience as he largely expresses his feelings towards what he feels is an unjust government. Both essays however, focus on the mutual topics of morality and justice and use these topics to inform and motivate their audience to, at times, defy the government in order to establish the necessary justice.
Thomas Aquinas to Martin Buber, and declares that segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is sinful (Aeschliman)." Dr. King used the name of God throughout his speeches, writings, and interviews, because people had higher believe in God at that time then now. His always stressed in moral values, such as if the Whites are children of God, why Blacks are not. He emphasized on religious text that the believe of Christianity is equality, and respect between human beings without any barriers of skin color. King's theory of rights is grounded on human personality. "In Kings Judgement, I would argue, the rights guaranteed in the American Constitution including its Preamble, the Bill of Rights, and the Amendments are contributory to but insufficient for the full development of human personality (King). They constitute a beginning, but not an end, of the claims any personal or group of persons may properly and legitimately make on a social system (Sturm:97)." He believed that social practices would not change, until you don’t fight against the injustice. His moral judgements were very powerful and persuasive in terms of nonviolent resistances and gathering people in one
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attentions than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, is present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose.
Dr. Martin Luther King addressed many topics in, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He answered all the issues that were aimed towards him in a very skillful and well thought out manner. These issues came from, “A Call For Unity”, which was a letter published by eight local clergymen expressing their feelings about what Dr. King was doing. One concern in particular that King did an outstanding job of confronting was that of the clergymen’s anxiety about him breaking the law. King addresses the question of, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” by clarifying that there are just and unjust laws. He also goes on to explain the difference between the two, the effect of unjust laws on the people that they are aimed towards, as
The ideas of King are very similar to the ideas of Thoreau. Moreover, the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” shows that King, read the writings of many famous people. From these two reasons, King had probably read “Civil Disobedience” as an important document regarding justice and injustice. Therefore, the positions of the two writers are very close, and they cite conscience as a guide to obeying just laws.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr wrote a letter to fellow clergymen after being arrested for civil disobedience in Birmingham, Alabama. I agree with his statements towards the differences between just and unjust laws. A just law is one that abides by the law of God and the moral law. An example of this is when the majority party puts a law into place and are willing to follow that law along with the minority. On contrary, an unjust law is not put into place for the sake of the majority and the minority. An unjust law seems unfair to the group that is least likely to be represented. These laws are not made for everyone that's why Dr. Martin Luther King didn't have a problem with breaking unjust laws because they were just that, unjust. Unjust means not behaving according to what is morally right and fair. He says that there is a difference between law, just and unjust and with morality (good and bad). Dr. King also says that it's
Throughout modern American culture certain laws passed by the majority have been considered unjust by a wise minority. However, with the logical and emotional appeal of hard fought battles, voices have been heard, and the minds of the majority can sometimes be converted to see the truth. Thoreau, after spending a night in jail and seeing the truth hidden behind the propaganda of the majority, became convinced that he could no longer accept his government’s behavior of passing laws that benefit the majority with degrading the minority. It’s quite ironic that by the government imprisoning Thoreau he became freer then ever before. He was able to see how the government turned peaceably inclined men into controllable machines. Thoreau saw how the government dealt with its citizens as only a body, while completely disregarding the sense, intellect, and moral beliefs of its people. In his essay “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau stated that “a government ruled by majority in all cases cannot be based on justice.” He further believed that “under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison.” This point made by Thoreau can be seen as the truth throughout history. A just man never sits by quietly watching the majority degrade the minority to suit their own immoral purposes. Like Thoreau, another just man who stood out from the quiet minority was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King was, as well, willing to suffer for his views to put an end to racial segregation, and was arrested on numerous occasions for holding strong in his believes and spreading his message throughout the minds of all God’s children. King often cited conscience as a guide to obeying just laws and disobeying unjust ones. In an essay written by King titled “A letter from Birmingham Jail,” King clearly defines the interpretation of the differerence between the two kinds of laws. “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is a difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.” To further understand this King quotes from St. Augustine himself who once stated “any law that uplifts human personality is just.
In Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, he writes about why citizens should disobey government’s unjust laws. The American government was established to execute people’s wills, and this should not be forgotten. Citizens who totally rely on government believe that government symbolizes honesty, justice, rights and protection. In this way, citizens will comply with all the laws which the government formulates without thinking whether they are right or not. However, while the time is changing, government has been changing its morality principal. For example, some high level governors might misuse government’s right for individual interest. Also, Henry David Thoreau argues that the American government uses the excuse of benefiting
Thus, creating social progress. Martin Luther King Jr., author of The Letter From Birmingham Jail, defines using civil disobedience appropriately. He describes two different types of laws: Just, laws moral laws in agreement with god; and Unjust laws, laws that disagree with what god wants" (King 5). King argued that if any sign of an unjust law exists, people must rebel against it immediately in order for social progress to result (King 5). Henry Thoreau, author of Civil Disobedience, has an opinion that correlates with King's. “Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once” (Thoreau 6) By asking this rhetorical question, Henry Thoreau implied that if a person sees a morally wrong law , he or she must peacefully rebel against for social progress to result. Civil disobedience exists appropriately to the extent that if law appears wrong, people need to take against it with willingness to pay for the consequences. For example, women voting in American History had no existence. According to god's will, he created all people, regardless of gender and race, in the image of god. Therefore, everyone, in god's creation, exists equal and the same. By denying women the right to vote, the law went against God's
Civil disobedience has been around for a long time. In Bible times Christians would disobey laws that would go against their beliefs, such as the law that they couldn’t preach. (Acts 4) Christians still disobey laws in many countries that do not let them practice their faith, some end up in jail or killed.
Disobedience to laws and governments that we the people see as wrong is a deep-seated part of our culture. It hearkens back to the Revolutionary war which the colonies used to create this great country from a previous government that the people saw as tyrannical. But this kind of disobedience, even being somewhat rare, can be seen in many cases throughout history. A step up from this is civil disobedience. Civil Disobedience can even be found as far back as Jefferson's time when he would advocate for "threat of revolution" and forms of changing the government that were placed in the constitution like "elections, amending process" and more (Rebellion, Revolution, and the Constitution). The same document even cites him as believing that unsuccessful
There is a lot of shock from individuals who are perusing stories about the unfortunate behavior of expert competitors and interfacing them to a campaign against kid mishandle. I'm against tyke mishandle. Isn't everybody? In any case I'm not against beating.
Disobedience is a message, not just an act of incompliency. It’s a message of what the people want. Ignoring our developing morals and thoughts is only ignoring a quality of life that we strive for. We can’t live under rules that nobody wants to follow. For instance, Rosa Parks had refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She initiated civil rights movements. We recognize Rosa Parks as a hero because she gave everyone the courage to stand up for what they believe in. Societies have to adapt to the people. If the people wanted equality then the world is forced into equality. Disobedience and rebellion makes it clear when that time comes. Disobedience is critical to communicate a need for change. Questioning and having faith in our