What is civil disobedience? Civil disobedience by definition is refusal to obey government demands or commands especially as a non-violent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government. According to Martin Luther King Jr civil disobedience is “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law” (Boss 89). Martin Luther King Jr, showed in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” that civil disobedience can be morally justified under the right circumstances. He accomplishes this with the focus of the just and unjust laws that
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A “just” law according to Martin Luther King Jr., “is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. Any law that uplifts human personality is just” (Boss 88). Where an “unjust” law does the complete opposite, and “is no law at all,” these laws degrade ones’ personality (Boss 88). Should “unjust” laws be followed? If the law is degrading to human personality one feels they should break this law, but have respect for the law as well. This law gives the oppressor the feeling of superiority and the oppressed a sense of inferiority. In the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, Jonathan Augustine agrees that, “King’s belief in a moral duty to disobey unjust laws was tempered with a respect for the rule of law, as he and his followers accepted the penalties for violating laws they considered unjust: King contended that the breaking of unjust laws must be done in the spirit of love and with a willingness to accept the penalty. The latter attitude demonstrates a high regard for law in principle” (Augustine 270). There is a right and wrong way to approach the feeling of “unjust” laws, if that individual or group decides to be violent or nonviolent is their …show more content…
King discloses, there is four basic steps to any nonviolent campaign, and they are: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action” (Boss 86). A good way in creating tension without violence is nonviolent direct action. King says, “nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored” (Boss 86). This is a way to make an issue come into light, without the harshness of violence but rather words and
A “just” law according to Martin Luther King Jr., “is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. Any law that uplifts human personality is just” (Boss 88). Where an “unjust” law does the complete opposite, and “is no law at all,” these laws degrade ones’ personality (Boss 88). Should “unjust” laws be followed? If the law is degrading to human personality one feels they should break this law, but have respect for the law as well. This law gives the oppressor the feeling of superiority and the oppressed a sense of inferiority. In the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, Jonathan Augustine agrees that, “King’s belief in a moral duty to disobey unjust laws was tempered with a respect for the rule of law, as he and his followers accepted the penalties for violating laws they considered unjust: King contended that the breaking of unjust laws must be done in the spirit of love and with a willingness to accept the penalty. The latter attitude demonstrates a high regard for law in principle” (Augustine 270). There is a right and wrong way to approach the feeling of “unjust” laws, if that individual or group decides to be violent or nonviolent is their …show more content…
King discloses, there is four basic steps to any nonviolent campaign, and they are: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action” (Boss 86). A good way in creating tension without violence is nonviolent direct action. King says, “nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored” (Boss 86). This is a way to make an issue come into light, without the harshness of violence but rather words and