Lessons in Civil Disobedience - 828 Words

No one possesses the same morals or beliefs. Morality does not have a black and white answer because no one is exactly alike. Everyone has their own opinion and right to voice that opinion, and there are numerous ways of doing so. As a citizen with my own beliefs, I believe I have the right to violate laws if I feel morally obligated to. The amount of progress that America has made in such a short amount of time is astonishing. In some ways it seems as if the only way to make any headway is to speak up. If I was morally opposed to a policy or law I would go against it due to its effectiveness, individualism, and past history of the world that has made immense progress. It is important to notice that if civil disobedience was not†¦show more content†¦You cannot base your morals off of a group’s thought, because you disregard your own morals. Thoreau says that, â€Å"every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new† (Walden 1). Thoreau despised laziness and considered following the crowd as lazy and that as an individual, you could better the world by standing up for your own beliefs. Thoreau claimed that, â€Å"not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations,† (Walden 2). That quote signifies that the only way to find ourselves and our own beliefs is for there to be significant turmoil in the world. Thoreau states in â€Å"Civil Disobedience† that, â€Å"The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies†¦ In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well† (Thoreau 3). Thoreau is basically saying that the mob mentality does not help make the moral decision because there is a great sens e of conformity that individuals feel obligated to follow. To be individual you must realize that you have to put your beliefs before the conformist’s idea. The history of the world and theShow MoreRelated Is Violence in Pursuit of Happiness Justified? Essay example1173 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout history, people have had numbers of arguments on this topic. Civil disobedience is usually thought to be an â€Å"illegal activity undertaken to protest laws that are regarded as unjust† (Schlesinger). In order to eliminate injustice, or at least the most unjust law in the system , people may start disobeying that particular law. Thoreau, Gandhi, and King each were closely related on the concept of civil disobedience, they all thought that the government was in need of fundamental transformationRead MoreEssay on The Case Against Civil Disobedience 929 Words   |  4 PagesCivil Disobedience is a deliberate violation against the law in order to invoke change against a government policy. Civil disobedience can come in the form of running a red light or j-walking, or in more noticeable methods such as riots. Coined by American author and poet Henry David Thoreau, the term has developed to define the act of disobeying a law one sees as unfit or unjust. Usually the purpose of civil disobedience is to gain public attention to a perceived injustice and appeal to or gainRead MoreTheme Of Antigone 964 Words   |  4 Pagesand also engender con troversy. Such sagas, however, are nothing new. Antigone, a play by Sophocles and the sequel to Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, provides an ancient Greek perspective on the themes of power, duty, and law while providing a moral lesson about the consequences of pride and dogmatism. The play begins with the new ruler of Thebes, Creon, decreeing that his brother, Polyneices, who had besieged the city with a foreign army, will not receive a proper burial. Polyneices’ sister, AntigoneRead MoreNon Fictional Characters From The Movie The Great Debaters 1316 Words   |  6 PagesThere were many reasons and examples for the non-fictional characters from the movie, â€Å"The Great Debaters; however, civil disobedience can be cited and resonant with any society. First, describe a feeling of struggle and wanted to belong or presence from the beginning. How should a person connect and understand the continued era for all generation. For Instance, could anyone be shamed or turn down by a certain racial group at the same time. America has felt the urge to teach young children and adultsRead MoreHuman Nature Disobedience814 Words   |  4 Pageswould be ways to describe human nature, but another would be disobedience. An Irish author, Oscar Wilde, once voiced his view on human nature with regards to disobedience. Wilde claims â€Å"disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue†. History, where lessons are learned and instances of background and reasoning occur, is how society has grown and survived for this long. We must think of disobedience as another way to stretch a situation into a solution even ifRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of The Great Debaters1269 Words   |  6 Pagesthe audience whether or not civil disobedience is a moral weapon. Ms. Booke and Mr. Farmer believe that justice isn’t divided equally, and that civil disobedience is a moral weapon in the fight of justice. The three modes of persuasion used are ethos, pathos and logos. After the Harvard dean finished speaking, Wiley college was up next and James Farmer Jr was the first to speak. As a result, Farmer started his speech with a rhetorical question, â€Å"But how can disobedience ever be moral?† The reasonRead MoreAntigone, by Sophocles Essay853 Words   |  4 Pagespolicy and vent their grievances through acts of civil disobedience. Henry Thoreau said, â€Å"It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.† It is both the right and responsibility of a person to fight an unjust law, and civil disobedience allows one to convey his thoughts and ideas in a passive, nonviolent way. In Sophocles’ Antigone, written in 442 B.C., we find one of the earliest examples of civil disobedience. The play emphasizes the right of the individual toRead MoreTranscendentalism1409 Words   |  6 Pagesof nature. In general, people still feel that society needs to better itself for the benefit of all individuals, whi ch is at the heart of Transcendentalism. Some of the ideas that Transcendentalists constantly defended included individualism, civil disobedience, and the protection of nature. These ideas are consistently integrated with the social movements and trends that are seen in America today and in the past one hundred years. Individualism is the concept of being self-reliant and using intuitionRead MoreThomas Hobbes And John Locke1361 Words   |  6 PagesNegros. If the time were there would be no racial controversy was not near, then when will it come, when will Negros start to be treated like others. The Harvard debate topic was on civil disobedience. Wiley college first argued that â€Å"civil disobedience was a moral weapon in the fight for justice, but how can disobedience ever be moral?†, meaning how could it be good if one disobeyed laws. Wiley then argued that in India 1919, people gathered together in Amritsar and protested the tyranny of the BritishRead MoreEthical scrap book II final paper 1 1529 Words   |  7 Pagesguaranteed that you will get several different answers. No two people are going to look at any situation exactly the same. This weeks’ lesson called for our team to answer questions and discuss our different answers. We are all able to come to a general consensus o n how we felt about a few things. The topics included good Samaritans, vigilantism, and civil disobedience. We will first address good Samaritans. Good Samaritans do things for other people out of the kindness of their hearts. They don’t