A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand Essay

In the words of Abraham Lincoln in his House Divided Speech, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Basler, n.d.). While this is speaking in regards to slavery in the 1800’s, it also relates to establish what is just an unjust when considering the whole of the country. In life, we consistently see humans who live in collaboration that have differing beliefs. Our beliefs are centered on our emotions. Since our laws are based on beliefs and emotions, sometimes the waters will become muddy in that we as a population have different principles. Our laws are impacted by what the public believes to be just and unjust. These beliefs are centered on our emotions. A specific example of this confrontation between beliefs if the act of abortion. Each side of the
Before one can determine whether or not it is just or unjust to force ideas or beliefs on someone, a determination of what it means to be just must be established. I personally believe that justice is a personal virtue. Robert C. Roberts suggest determining the relationship between social justice and individual justice. “On this approach, instead of justice standing as distinct from “natural virtues” motivated by passions (as on Hume’s account), or needing to be replaced by sentimentally-driven attitudes such as care or compassion, justice is to be seen as a virtue largely constituted by emotion” (Roberts, 2010). This is stating that rather than justice being determined by natural laws that are created by passions, justice is a virtue of an individual that are determined by emotion. Thus, our laws that determine what is just and unjust are created by our emotions. Now that a definition of justice has been created, a decision can be made on whether or not to force beliefs and values on others. I think that it is just to force specific beliefs upon those who disagree with a