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Nick Bone
Miss Edgar
English 10
08 January 2015
Many people that are leaders of movements break the law; they do it because it is the
ethical and moral thing to do. Moral is knowing what the right is; it means in your heart what
is the right thing to do. Sometimes, in order to do what is morally and ethically right, an
individual must break the law. This concept is evident in the selections On Nonviolent Resistance
by Gandhi and Letter from Birmingham City Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gandhis speech, On Nonviolent Resistance, outlines reasons for when it is morally and
ethically appropriate to break the law. Gandhi shows this by having protest to protest the law that
is unjust and doesnt give equality to all races. Likewise, he went to jail for these protest. When a
law isnt fair to men and women it is ok to break the law because it doesnt treat everyone the
same. We made it clear to the said government that we would not bow to its outrageous laws
(Gandhi On Nonviolent 279). In this quote Gandhi is saying that the laws that are unfair and
unjust will not be obeyed and followed. All in all, Gandhis plea for cooperation and not violence
In an open letter, Martin Luther King, Jr. maintains how, on occasion, people have to
stand up to unjust laws because these laws go against their morals and ethics. When the United
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States had segregation laws many blacks became very upset with the government. In this case
there are many protests; this is how they would break the law. It is ok for them to break it
because it goes against their morals of equality. Also, when the law restricts freedoms you will
speak out against it. In this case it is ok to break the law because it restricts god given rights. An
unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with moral law.(King Letter from Birmingham jail
281). This is saying as a person you have to know when a law just doesnt fit into society and
you have to stand up to it and protest it and make it go away to have harmony back in your life
and society. For the preceding reasons, Martin Luther King, Jrs letter focuses on how to protest
when laws are in conflict with the peoples moral and ethical beliefs.
Without a doubt, actions of civil disobedience and specific times to break laws that are
morally and ethically unfair are illustrated in On Nonviolent Resistance and Letter from
Birmingham City Jail. It is ok to break the law when it doesnt follow your morals because on
the inside you will feel horrible about yourself and will lay sleepless at night thinking what you
could to make a change; you will most likely have to break the law but after the fact you will so
good about yourself you will always have a smile on your face knowing you made a change.
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