Peaceful Resistance Examples

Throughout the history of the United States of America, a country that celebrates and was founded on the belief in personal freedoms, the idea of peaceful, civil disobedience has been much disputed. The point of contention being… “Does peaceful resistance to laws positively or negatively impact a free society?” Although there have been instances where resistance to law has ended badly, PEACEFUL resistance, with full acceptance of the consequences, has produced more beneficial fruits.
For the purposes of this essay, I would like to define several terms that I will be utilizing, using the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a source. Peaceful can be defined as “calm, or not involving violence or force”. Disobedience is defined as a “refusal or failure
to obey laws or rules”. Lawful is defined as something “allowed by or according to the law”. Riot can be defined as “a situation in which a large group of people behave in a violent and uncontrolled way”. The word consequence is defined as “something that happens as a result of a particular action or set of conditions”. Free is defined as having “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action”.
As I stated previously, certain acts of resistance to law have turned ugly, and have resulted in damage and loss of life or property.
For example, in 2013, Edward Snowden released 1.5 million classified NSA documents on the Internet. In doing so, he jeopardized the lives and safety of our U.S. service members abroad and at home; actions that would be considered by most to be an aggressive act toward this country, and a violation of the law. Other prominent examples of resistances-gone-wrong are the riots sparked by the infamous Black Lives Matter Group. Fox News reported that while protesting, they threw rocks through windows, beat bystanders bloody, burned vehicles, and fought violently with police officers. These too were unlawful and aggressive acts of disobedience. But despite these recent episodes, not all instances of civil disobedience have been violent and unruly. During the 1960’s, according to ushistory.org, African-Americans staged sit-ins at local diners where the law said that they were not allowed to sit. Perfectly peaceful, they refused to get up, and in doing so violated the law of that time. Other protesters staged bus boycotts, in which they sat anywhere on the bus they chose, in response to laws that restricted bus seating for African-Americans. Despite the fact that these acts were illegal at the time, the protests were done peacefully. No one was beaten, nor any vehicles or buildings burned down in these specific
acts.
Through the aforementioned events, it has been observed that peaceful civil disobedience can produce better fruit.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s resulted in a repeal of the laws that restricted the rights of African-Americans. Their peacefulness and courage allowed them to gain the rights that everyone in this nation enjoys today. But rioting and violence has never solved anything. All that violence has proven to do is divide the nation and ruin lives. As the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior once famously quoted, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” In addition, it is common fact that the founding fathers built this nation upon Judeo-Christian values, namely the Bible. In the Bible, it says to respect authority and follow the law, for God has set up all authorities. However, it also says that whenever the laws of the land conflicts with God’s, follow God’s Law instead (Romans 13: 1-7: Mark 12:17). This freedom of peaceful civil disobedience is endowed to us by not only the founders, but by our Creator. One may even contend that to not take a stand against what you believe to be an unjust law is, in fact, furthering the injustice. To sacrifice one’s own comfort, and risk fines or jail time in order to peacefully bring attention to injustice is certainly a selfless
act.
In conclusion, I believe that the answer to this question of peaceful disobedience is simple. Yes, peaceful resistance to law is an important part of a free society like America. As long as the act is carried out peacefully, and the participant is willing to suffer any consequences involved, be they social, legal, or moral, this freedom of protest is important, and often times very beneficial to a place like America.