The Unjust of Just law Ethics 110 22 Jun 2010 In a democratic state it is in never within our rights to break the law. Breaking the law leads to lawlessness and disobedience from the democracy that we have worked, or have been born into. If the law is unjust, then it might be fair to break that law as long as you are willing to suffer the consequences of punishment set aside for that particular unjust law. Failure to adhere to the punishment is unjust as well, for failure to adhere to the punishment of the law is a statement that you do not respect the laws of your society. Martin Luther King Jr. states “Oppressed People cannot remain oppressed forever.” (Cahn, 2009 p. 387) As we have seen throughout history, this is a true statement.
Most people will never have to face the same challenges as the people of Le Chambon, but still, it’s a core part of what it means to be morally responsible. Pastor Trocme’ said to the people of Le Chambon, “Don’t give up your consciences to participate in hatred, betrayal and murder.” The people of Le Chambon didn’t discriminate against Jews, they only saw them as people just as they were. They did what was morally the righteous thing to do. President Obama said in his speech, “…..No one is born a savior or a murderer. These are choices we each have to make.
From today as mine by right.” Creon also now believes that as he is now king he is infallible and believes that his own laws should come above the laws of the gods. “But I am the law” Creon`s own attitude towards his own rule seems very autocratic, his opinion that a king does not need to listen to the people and make judgements he believes are the most beneficial to the state. “ I have never based my political principles on the opinions of people in the streets” “And I will act according to my own convictions” Creon believes that his actions to deny the burial of Polynices are justified because he believes that the gods will support his actions as Polynices was a traitor and Creon sees no reason as to why the gods would honour a traitor. “No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs to tear, an obscenity for citizens to behold! These are my principles.
Their basic altitudes towards the democracy and nonviolence conflict with each other. King’s own account of his philosophy of nonviolence indicated the extent to which he was influenced by Thoreau’s theoretical framework for thinking about civil disobedience and political obligation. Thoreau has confidence in democracy and the belief of unifying individuals of the society to realize it. However, Nietzsche overtly objected to democratic politics, with thinking that love, freedom and democracy are all the results of recognizing the right. Although democratic practices were on the way in the capitalist countries, he asserted that democratic politics possessed no advancement.
Paine used Common Sense as a great tool to let the commoners and less educated to gain some insight on the role and purpose of government. Firstly, Paine makes a distinction between government and society. Paine states: “Society is everything constructive and good that people join together to accomplish. Government, on the other hand, is an institution whose sole purpose is to protect us from our own vices. Government has its origins in the evil of man and is therefore a necessary evil at best.” He goes on to say that “government's sole purpose is to protect life, liberty and property, and that a government should be judged solely on the basis of the extent to which it accomplishes this goal.” Basically, Paine is stating to the common people that they have the opportunity to form their own representation of government and do it in a way that truly represents their wants and needs.
He states that “For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed” then he tells the audience that the U.S. will “never fear to negotiate.” He states this in order to let the audience know that they want peace but are not afraid to negotiate with their enemies. The confident attitude of the President gives a serious tone to let the audience know that they plan to follow through with their statements. Kennedy ends his speech emphasizing the American people being united as one country. He suggests that America should be united together to make them stronger by asking the people to “join in the historic effort?” and also by saying to “ask what you can do for your
We see our independence again when President Monroe issues what is known as the Monroe Doctrine, stern warning for Europe and the rest of the world to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Although in this instance we did not acquire any additional territory, the spirit of Manifest Destiny was there. As the “city upon a hill” we were obligated to protect the growth of democracy in the Western Hemisphere. It was our destiny to allow other nations to have the benefits of a government that is true and just, and we were willing to fight for that. Finally, the creation of the Santa-Fe Trail is another example of Manifest Destiny.
Mahatma Gandhi used civil disobedience because he knew that it was the only way that the Indian communities would be able to fight the laws of the Great Britain government. Gandhi called his method of civil disobedience, “Satyagrahis”. Gandhi stated that Satyagrahis was a peaceful form of civil disobedience and that any form of violence was prohibited, even if the government of Great Britain brought violence upon them. Gandhi also felt that if somebody were to join the Satyagrahis movement, they would have to know the consequences and must be willing to pay for their actions. After some time passed since the movement began, many people who were part of the movement were put in jail.
People, by their very existence, are meant to be free and maintain a level of individual liberty. “‘All men recognize the right to revolution,’ he wrote, ‘that is the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government when its tyranny and efficiency are great and unendurable.’” Gandhi felt very strongly that slavery and oppression of people was wrong and an infringement on the rights of humans and human nature. People are not obligated to follow a government who is wrong or corrupt. Despite these individual liberties, people are also bound to each other by human nature and by the invisible barriers of culture and society. In their fight for freedom from
In his eyes the people should support only what they want to support, nothing more or less. Thoreau quotes “ It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend its to his will.” If men in power want war, they will get war. Some say that Thoreau is an anarchist, because of his reference to a government that is best which governs not at all. That is not the case because he makes several references throughout his esssay that he does not wish to abolish government, he just wishes a better one. Here, a quote from Carl L. Bankston the third from “Thoreau's Case for Political Disengagement”, states “Nevertheless , while he would like to see government governing less, he does not carry this to the end of abolishing government.” Thoreau says that slavery and