Is breaking the law morally wrong?
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Is breaking the law morally wrong?
Sometimes laws may feel unjust. There are also examples of the opposite, morally wrong actions that are legally permitted (lying to a friend, exploiting a loophole in the law to avoid paying taxes). Therefore, it can indeed be morally right, and even indicated, to break the law in certain situations.
Can breaking the law ever be morally justified?
It is now widely agreed that a person can be morally justified in breaking a law, even a valid law in a democracy whose institutions are by and large just. There is much less agreement, however, about the sorts of considerations that constitute good moral reasons in support of disobedience.
Is it ever moral to break the law?
Yes, of course, there a many circumstances in which it is morally and ethically right to break a law. When a law is inconsistent with both accurate fact and logically-consistent reasoning, AND one values these two standards, it is morally correct to break that law.
What did Martin Luther King say about unjust laws?
“One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
What is an example of an unfair law?
The laws underlying slavery or the Holocaust are obvious examples of extremely unjust laws.
What would it take for someone to break an unjust law?
POST: Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” defends an odd position: You may morally break an unjust law IF you make no effort to evade the legal punishment for the unjust law you break. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.
What does Martin Luther King Jr say about just and unjust laws when defending his civil disobedience?
But in defending his action, King invoked St. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law,” King responded. “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” And he concluded the point, by invoking St.
Did Martin Luther King break any laws?
Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American citizens, as well as creating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. King was arrested five times in his life.
How did Martin Luther King change the law?
Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize, and Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law made it illegal to treat people differently because of the color of their skin when they were trying to buy a house, rent an apartment or go to a restaurant, for example.
