...Martin Luther King, Jr said, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Civil disobedience is part of our culture. People stand up for themselves when laws, rules, or just when things are unfair and unjust. Martin Luther King, Jr is a prime example of civil disobedience. In his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” he describes his own thoughts on civil disobedience through real life experiences. David Thoreau is also a main figure in civil disobedience from his letter, “Civil Disobedience.” He talks about what he did to stand up for what he felt was right. There is a couple of reasons to believe in civil disobedience , one it can bring attention to main topics and also create real change in society. Civil disobedience is only...
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...What does civil disobedience mean exactly? Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain, as a peaceful form of political protest. Civil disobedience is good because it makes changes with to violent moves. The passages that will be talked about as good examples of civil disobedience are “On Nonviolent Resistance,”, Mohandas K. Gandhi. The next passage is called “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” by the one and only, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For the third and last passage, it is called “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau. These passages will make you think differently about what people are capable of. In “On Nonviolent Resistance,” Mohandas K. Gandhi writes about how violence isn’t always key to making changes. It can only...
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...Two people who acted in similar methods when it came to civil disobedience were Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Desmond Tutu was a civil rights activist in South Africa during the 1980s, while King was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1960’s. Both Tutu and King fought for African Americans who were treated unfairly in both South Africa and America. Tutu and King wanted to bring an end to segregation and apartheid and they felt the best way was through civil disobediences. Although they agreed the unfair treatment of African Americans needed to end, King’s approach to the topic was a lot more instructional and insistent. Tutu believed his job was not to lead people and show them how to achieve their common goal, but instead to let them know that he was on their side as well as many others....
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...First Amendment. While to some, civil disobedience may seem as an idea that destroys a society, to others (including myself) is just another way to bring about awareness and change to a society. In Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", civil disobedience is shown throughout King's actions. King's peaceful protest movements showed resistance to several negative impacts of injustice. In the essay, King states that although Alabama clergymen were criticizing his actions, his argument was...
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...When it comes to the pretention of Civil Disobedience and what can be seen as acts of indirect and direct civil disobedience. H.A. Bedau and Henry David Thoreau come to mind because of how they both saw things in different light but at a meaningful level they both thought the same about the government even through they expressed there ideals in completely different ways. Their ideas cross on many different paths as to which even Bedau talks about Thoreau in his essay in regards to being “responsible” for your actions. The main premise of Bedau’s argument in his essay of “civil disobedience and personal responsibility for justice” is to compare the idea of what is civil disobedience and who is responsible for the actions. Bedau spends a great...
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...- 2 – The LD File Civil Disobedience Index Topic Overview 3-7 Definitions 8-10 Affirmative Cases 11-19 Negative Cases 20-25 Affirmative Extensions 26-34 Civil disobedience worked to free India. 26 Civil disobedience overthrew the communists in Poland. 26 The tradition of civil disobedience in America goes all the way back to the founders. 26 Civil disobedience can serve to prevent situations from escalating into violence. 27 Civil Disobedience has been used to promote peace. 27 Civil disobedience was used to promote racial equality. 27 Civil disobedience is used to try to prevent the destruction of the environment. 27 Civil disobedience is effective at changing the law. 28 Legal channels can take too long. 28 Consent to obey just laws does not imply consent to obey unjust ones. 28 Distinguishing between just and unjust laws to disobey can be universalized. 28 Civil disobedience can be stabilizing to a community by spreading a shared sense of justice. 29 Sometimes it is only the unjustified response to civil disobedience that has harmful consequence. 29 Civil disobedience is traditionally non-violent. 29 Civil disobedience is a form of exercising free speech- which is essential in a democracy. 30 Civil disobedience has been used to fight slave laws 30 Civil disobedience played a role in ending the Vietnam war. 30 Civil disobedience shouldn’t be punished-...
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...In 1891, Irish author Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) observed, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” Civil disobedience can be valuable and promote social progress when used for valid reasons. However, when using disobedience for invalid reasons, it promotes wrongdoings instead of social progress. Humans must differentiate between progress and ignorance to positively impact a free society. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, he argued that peaceful debates and arguments would put an end to segregation. King was a devout Christian member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and a...
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...Do You Hear People Sing? — A Brief Analysis of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience Abstract: Civil disobedience is the valuable spiritual wealth of American spirits. From Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King, civil disobedience theory also had developed into a new stage. American people began to commonly accept and practice the civil disobedience theory, which pushed American Civil Rights Movement forward. This essay focuses on the origination of the civil disobedience and briefly introduces its development. Key Words: Civil disobedience Conscience Government 1、 Thoreau’s Imprisonment The Mexican-American war, which started from 1846, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico over the territorial dispute of Texas. Most abolitionists and transcendentalists were against this war, because they thought that this war was an act of a bullying government anxious to grab land from a weaker nation. Some even thought this war was a conspiracy of the southern slaveholders. Then Texas admitted slavery, while Mexico forbade slavery. They regarded this war as the expansion of slavery, which could strengthen the influence of the south in federation. Therefore the abolitionists and transcendentalists did their best to resist this war. Among them, Henry David Thoreau was a famous representative. Thoreau did not agree this aggressive war. To resist, he refused to pay the Massachusetts poll tax, which was a “per head” tax imposed on...
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...have to. Civil disobedience and rebellion is justified, particularly in the United States. Locke and King support their view with a variety of arguments. Thomas Hobbes, on the other hand, views any kind of rebellion as unacceptable. This essay will review the effectiveness of both positions, but in the end civil disobedience is justified in the United States. John Locke argues that resistance against one's government is acceptable under certain circumstances. Locke believes that we have God-given rights,which are: life, liberty, limb, health, and property. If at any point our government fails to protect those rights then we are allowed to step in in a non-violent way. It is up to the individual to enforce own executive power. Martin Luther King Jr.’s argument is very similar. He discusses multiple biblical figures. They fought for what they believed in an a non-violent, yet extreme way. King says: “... Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative...
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...Batman’s Civil Disobedience in Gotham city Hugo A. Sanchez English 102 10/24/14 Abstract In this paper, I argue that the film and comic Batman the Dark Knight Returns, can be compared to Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience in the way that Batman disobeys the law by returning back to Gotham city and fighting crime. I also show that Batman displays civil disobedience when he does his best to protect Gotham city and fight the government, promising to never give up. I show that, much like Thoreau, Batman is solitary and engages in his own war by himself against the police department, criminals, and army. Just as Thoreau willingly goes to jail for his beliefs about the Mexican War, Batman fights for what he believes to be right, not only for him, but for the people of Gotham city. Batman’s Civil Disobedience in Gotham City When corruption arises, there is always a person who questions the injustice. Acts of civil disobedience are shown in modern society today, whether in society or through the media. Many individuals who are portrayed as heroes are people who break the law and fight for the power and authority that the citizens have lost due to their rights being taken away. A person must be able to accept the outcomes and consequences of their own actions when they disobey. Being civilly disobedient is not only about breaking a law. The actions of these individuals spread ideas. In the end, the outcome of the struggle may involve a change in a law like the way Cesar...
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... in South Africa, was a system of segregation and discrimination on grounds of race. Nelson Mandela a good amount of his political career reversing the effects of this system. He did so prior to his position in office by peaceful, some not peaceful, protests. These protests are an example of civil disobedience. “Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law, rather than a rejection of the system as a whole.” - Henry David Thoreau. One of the oldest examples of civil disobedience is the Ancient Greek play Antigone by Sophocles. Nelson Mandela used many different...
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...Civil disobedience occurs when people feel the need to oppose an unjust law and feel the need for a change. It can be labeled as a form of protest whether it's peaceful or violent. Protest itself is a form of freedom of speech which is a given right to the people. People protest because they feel there is a need in change within the government or society. Peaceful protest is the best form of protest because it shows that the people are willing to negotiate to come to and understanding with the government so that a change can be made. Civl disobedience can be bad if your breaking a law that is immorally wrong such as murder or assault. If that happens it will look bad on the people and the government will punish the individual who caused the harm. An example of civil disobedience is the Black Lives Matter...
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...fact is, civil disobediance is not only positive in a free society, but neccessary. In addition, the idea of restricting civil disobedience is near to fascism. The ideology that the people not be allowed to peacefully protest or disobey certain sets of rules put in place is too restrictive in a country claiming to be the land of the free. We the people did not sign up to live in a country that gets to choose what our opinions look like to the rest of the world....
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...2 Team D CJS/211 October 12, 2015 Ethical Scrapbook Part 2 Team D created a scrapbook of ethics such as Good Samaritan conduct, acts of vigilantism and disobedience, and criminal acts committed by professionals in the course of their employment. We each learned about the topics and discovered several examples to better explain and help us have a better understanding of each ethical standpoint for the scrapbook. In this next part of the scrapbook, we will be discussing each ethical view by answering questions and relaying our own personal opinions as well. Good Samaritan Law According to the Good Samaritan Law, a person is protected if they give reasonable assistance to those who are, or who they believe to be, injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. This is dependent on the State. The protection is intended to reduce bystanders' hesitation to assist, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death. Many people have helped others, and some have even been sued for it. In December of 2004, a group of people were on their way home after a party, when they got into a car accident. One of the people pulled the other out of the car, because she feared it would catch on fire. Because of this, the women that were pulled out became a Paraplegic. She later sued her friend for pulling her out of the car. In California, a Good Samaritan can be sued. On March 11, 2009 in Ohio, two men Mark Kinkaid and David Kelley were driving, and they...
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...shall we transgress them at once?” (Henry David Thoreau, 1849, “Civil Disobedience”) According to “Documents of Freedom,” Civil disobedience is when “Men such as Martin Luther King, Jr. violated unjust laws but willingly accepted the punishment that came with violating the law… often confused with simply violating laws that you do not like…Civil disobedience demands to accept the punishment otherwise, there would be no principled distinction between civil disobedience and mere lawlessness” (“The Documents of Freedom”). Peaceful resistance does positively impact a free society. Take Gandhi for example, he non-violently protested the registration law, through non-violent marches and labor strikes, all harmless, and in support of those who were treated unequally by the registration law, “The Boer government then agreed to end the most objectionable parts of the...
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