meant breaking the law. In the case of Birmingham‚ it was vital for Martin to response to the out cries of the people due to the unconstitional behaviors that continued to take place there. Martin focus on 3 central themes; moral obligation over unjust laws‚ direct action and justification of
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Birmingham City Jail”‚ King talks about how to know the difference between just and unjust laws. He states‚ “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust”(Shafer-Landau 408). King believed that unjust laws promote disharmony and that these laws essentially destroy human personality‚ while just laws uplift personality. In his opinion‚ he believed that laws were characterized as just laws if they were helping to make an individual better as a person‚ if
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between a just law and an unjust law? To me the answer is evident‚ and I have a hard time believing that anyone couldn’t easily know the distinction or disagree with the distinction that Martin Luther King Jr. makes during his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” That “a just law is a man-made code that’s squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law” (533). At its very basic definition‚ just laws protect the people and unjust laws hurt the
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In order to decide whether a law is just or unjust‚ we must first delve into the logic of laws established in the past. Since the United States came into existence‚ laws have come and gone‚ sometimes addressing very specific circumstances which no longer apply to the modern rules of our government. In today’s society‚ these outdated laws may seem bizarre‚ but at some point in time they were believed to be important. A numerous amount of these laws have fallen off the books years ago or perhaps were
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Just and Unjust Laws Dr.Martin Luther King’s Jr "Letter from Birmingham Jail‚(1963)" was his response to the public statement of concern and caution issued by eight religious leaders of the south. This concern addressed the controversial issues of segregation between black and white people living in Birmingham .Dr.King included numerous points with his response. One of the main points he explained was about the difference between just and unjust laws."A just law is a man-made code that squares with
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13‚ 2004 Just and Unjust Laws The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines unjust as "characterized by injustice: Unfair." At the same time it defines a law as "a binding custom or practice of a community." With both definitions in mind an unjust law can be described as "a binding custom or practice of a community characterized by injustice and unfairness." Today one can see unjust laws across the globe‚ many of which are overlooked by much of the world. At the same time‚ just laws are often enforced
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even unjust laws? Think about what this means. This means that laws‚ regardless of how unfair‚ unjust‚ or immoral they may be‚ must be followed with no better reason that they are the law. To the thesis that we are obliged to obey even unjust laws‚ I will argue that the standard objections to Civil Disobedience‚ given by Singer‚ are incorrect To begin‚ however‚ I believe it is necessary to define an "unjust" law. According to St. Thomas Aquinas‚ "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any
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Unjust Laws The United States is homeland for millions of immigrants who risk their lives for a better existence. In Jefferson’s words‚ it is a nation in which “All men are created equal‚ that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among them are Life‚ Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Our nation is a country in which equal opportunity if provided for those in search of a better life and our law is meant to apply evenly to citizens and non-citizens alike. However
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Unjust Laws “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (MLK Jr). Everyone has the moral and ethical obligation to disobey unjust laws that are put in place. It comes down to one thing‚ whether the law is right or wrong. For most humans‚ the brain is fully developed by the age of 25 according to National Institute of Health‚ so the creators of laws are well aware of right and wrong. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King writes‚ “A just law is a man made code that squares with
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and just and would result in exaltation and praise. How does one know if a society’s actions are moral or not? How does one know if their unjust actions are just? To authentically judge a society one must isolate the just and the unjust. As stated in The Republic by Plato‚ Now‚ if we are to form a real judgment of the life of the just and unjust‚ we must isolate them; there is no other way and how is the isolation to be affected? I answer: Let the unjust man be entirely unjust‚ and the just man entirely
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