There were times in history when breaking the law was justified: great leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King broke the law and changed the world for the better. Breaking the law is morally justifiable and acceptable when the law in itself is iniquitous and if that law violates human rights and conscience; Certainly‚ rules are established for us to follow but we as human beings should be able to differentiate the right and the wrong and incase laws need to be violated for the right cause even
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useful in our society? How does King distinguish between just and unjust laws‚ argue for civil disobedience‚ and criticize white moderates and the Church? · Just law – one that is in line w/moral laws or laws of God; any law that uplifts human personality · Unjust law- one that is not in harmony with the moral law; any law that degrades human personality · Non-violent civil disobedience is sometimes morally required so that such unfair laws (like segregation) can be replaced with more
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c. Individual follows his own set of rules While Emerson and Thoreau certainly have difference of opinions‚ they recognize the need for public discussion and discourse. a.“Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience” supports individuality and personal expression. b. Views of society and government c. Passionate belief in the necessity of rights http://thoreau.eserver.org/wendy.html The two authors Ralph Waldo Emerson‚ and Henry David Thoreau‚ are similar in many ways. A first example
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------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT Countless individuals have been leaders for racial justice throughout history. Some are well known and some will never be known. The individuals here are neither the most important nor the best known; they are simply some representative figures that we have chosen in hopes that their stories may inspire others. Most of the individuals listed here were active in the United States‚ but the movement against racism is world-wide. There were
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Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) was an excellent leader and a powerful historical figure. He is often remembered most for his writings and speeches‚ in which he invokes many philosophical theories and speakers to justify the opinions he expresses in them. In MLK’s‚ “Letter from Birmingham Jail‚” he uses philosophical thinkers from the past to support the idea that civil rights activists should be allowed to protest peacefully‚ in spite of the laws against it. One of the thinkers MLK uses to support
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values that they held dearest and is usually compacted into a couple words or a phrase that the public will forever associate with that leader’s name. For example‚ Mohandas Gandhi and ‘civil disobedience’ have become synonymous over the years. Whenever someone refers to the act of nonviolent protest‚ civil disobedience - sometimes even called the ‘Gandhian principle’ – one would think of Gandhi. Another example is Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for civil rights in the 1960s. His renowned ‘I Have a Dream’
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The essays by Martin Luther King Jr.‚ “Letters From Birmingham Jail” and Henry David Thoreau‚ “Civil Disobedience” show how one can be a civil person and protest against unfair‚ unjust laws forced upon them. Both authors are very persuasive in their letter writings. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. write about the injustice of government laws‚ of right and wrong‚ and one’s moral and upstanding conscience of a human being. Martin Luther King Jr. is a religious‚ peaceful man who uses
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The American Revolution brought a plethora of changes to the new nation of the United States. While there were obvious shifts in political ideals during this transformative time‚ social changes had an equal impact on the birth of the new nation. Transcendentalism was one such social and progressive movement in nineteenth century America that centered around reality existing not merely on a physical level‚ but on a higher‚ spiritual one as well. In order to achieve this understanding‚ one must seek
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Chapter 5 Review Questions 1. Civil Rights are the government-protected rights of individuals against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by governments or individuals. The concept of equality got introduced into the constitution. The 14th Amendment‚ one of three Civil war Amendments ratified from 1865 to 1870‚ introduced the notion of equality into the constitution by specifying that a state could not deny “any person within jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.” It is evident in the recent
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some kind of injustice within them? Are good citizens obliged to blindly follow the government policies? It follows then‚ what is good citizenship? Henry David Thoreau provides an adequate definition of good citizenship within his essay‚ Civil Disobedience; Thoreau discusses certain characteristics of a good citizen. Examples of Thoreau’s definition exist in both the ancient and contemporary culture. Sophocles describes Antigone as a good citizen by Thoreau’s definition. Within the play‚ Antigone
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