Civil Disobedience

It’s our responsibility’s as citizens to not only follow the laws in place but to challenge them when we deem them unjust. By doing this we are directly committing civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is a tool that when molested can hurt the system in place but, when used justly to alter the laws inhibiting certain…

Emerson ends his essay “Self-reliance” with the following: “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of your own principles.” Following this, some years later, Thoreau writes “Civil Disobedience” after he is imprisoned for adhering to his own moral compass, which is at odds with the state laws….

Henry David Thoreau was born on july 12th 1817 and died in 1862 to give an idea of the time. He was a poet and philosopher who had graduated from Harvard college.He believed that the law of nature and god was more important than the law of man. He had a rebellious personality and he…

John Calvin is one of the most famous reformation theologians of the 1500’s. One of his most decorated works is the Institutes of the Christian Religion: A book rich of Christian theology and the manual for reformed protestants. A topic not widely associated with Calvin is politics, yet he offers a unique perspective on government…

What is Passive Resistance? Passive Resistance is the nonviolent act of resisting to methods of the government, a dweller of power, or certain laws. Since 1897, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has acted on this idea, after questioning his people’s [Indians] status with the British Empire. There were many protest, five in which Gandhi was arrested. When…

Blindly obeying authority often results in disobedience to one’s personal morality. Since rules were established and exist for the common interests of the general population, some would say adhering to the rules is obedient. However, when rules conflict with people’s morals, one has the right, and furthermore the responsibility to disobey. Contrary to popular belief,…

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. invokes passages from “The Gettysburg Address,” The Declaration of Independence, and the Bible. Why do you think he references these sources? How do these sources help make his letter more powerful? Dr. King Jr. wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” after an unfair offer…

English 111February 21, 1997Is an individual ever morally justified in breaking a man made law? I firmly believe the answer to this question is yes. If the question was stated as, is an individual ever legally justified in breaking a man made law I would have to say no. There are several reasons that have…