How Does Civil Disobedience Affect Society
The Impact of Civil Disobedience
In today’s society there are countless laws that people will say they oppose, usually because they feel it infringes upon their rights. One of the ways these people can oppose them is through civil disobedience. This is the peaceful refusal of certain laws that one considers unjust, while still accepting the punishment for breaking the law. There is debate of how this civil disobedience affects society, whether it be in a positive or negative way. I believe that civil disobedience can have positive impact on society when done in the correct manner.
One way that some show their opposition is by assembling, sometimes just in protest, and other times peacefully breaking the law they oppose. For instance, if someone feels that it is unjust that congress made a law against smoking in restaurants a group of people may assemble in the restaurant and smoke. It is our constitutional right to peaceably assemble to retaliate against a law. The “second half of [the first amendment]states that Congress can make no law ‘abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”’(Civil Discourse and Petitioning). This means that congress, or any other part of the government for that matter, can …show more content…
Through studying history we learn that, “Men such as Martin Luther King, Jr. violated unjust laws but willingly accepted the punishment that came with violating the law. That is true civil disobedience”(Civil Discourse and Petitioning 1). These people were not, and are not, just breaking laws for the sake of breaking them They are doing this to push a cause they are passionate about. This shows that through their actions they are hurting no one. So, there is logically no reason why they should not be able to do
In today’s society there are countless laws that people will say they oppose, usually because they feel it infringes upon their rights. One of the ways these people can oppose them is through civil disobedience. This is the peaceful refusal of certain laws that one considers unjust, while still accepting the punishment for breaking the law. There is debate of how this civil disobedience affects society, whether it be in a positive or negative way. I believe that civil disobedience can have positive impact on society when done in the correct manner.
One way that some show their opposition is by assembling, sometimes just in protest, and other times peacefully breaking the law they oppose. For instance, if someone feels that it is unjust that congress made a law against smoking in restaurants a group of people may assemble in the restaurant and smoke. It is our constitutional right to peaceably assemble to retaliate against a law. The “second half of [the first amendment]states that Congress can make no law ‘abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”’(Civil Discourse and Petitioning). This means that congress, or any other part of the government for that matter, can …show more content…
Through studying history we learn that, “Men such as Martin Luther King, Jr. violated unjust laws but willingly accepted the punishment that came with violating the law. That is true civil disobedience”(Civil Discourse and Petitioning 1). These people were not, and are not, just breaking laws for the sake of breaking them They are doing this to push a cause they are passionate about. This shows that through their actions they are hurting no one. So, there is logically no reason why they should not be able to do