Breaking an "Unjust Law"

Q: When would you consider it appropriate to break an "unjust law"? Use information from "Perils of Obedience" and "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to support your reasoning?

A: Most laws have no reason to be considered unjust. Most have straightforward law restraining or allowing some act. Although, some laws contradict what our morals tell us to do and what we find to be "the right thing to do". As we grow up and are raised by our parents, we were taught to obey and follow orders. Our parents taught us to never say no when given directions. But every so often, directions given go against our morals and what we know as right. Some people go along and obey even though their conscience is telling them not to. Few people feel the need to stand up and go against what they are told for their own beliefs and morals. It is harder to stand up to a higher force alone then it is to stand up in a group with other people as support. The army sends their soldiers through boot camp in order to take away their desire to make decisions apart from those around them or the rest of the group. They are also taught to follow directions no matter what they are.

In Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail he responds saying that blacks have been following orders and what they have been told for many years in the past. They are just now trying to change and go against all that and be considered as equal with the white people, who consider themselves superior. He also responds saying that they are following their own morals. The people that believe in desegregation know that segregation is against what is known to be better and are trying to make a difference, no matter what color their skin is.

The Perils of Obedience is an experiment showing what people will do when given directions, even though they know it is hurting someone else. It was an attempt to show that they people in Germany during Hitler's rein were following what they were told, knowing the consequences they would receive if they did not obey. The people in the experiment of The Perils of Obedience were told only what they were to do, not what their consequences would be if they were to go against their directions. They were left with the unknown knowledge of what was to come of them if they said, "No." It just goes to show that the fear of consequence is sometimes higher in the thought chain then going against directions for another persons own sake, sometimes even their life. Few people have the integrity or guts to do what they know as right, but those are the people that we should be following, not the directions that are given when they are morally incorrect.