Letter from a Birmingham Jail

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Letter from a Birmingham Jail Is an individual ever morally justified in breaking a law? The answer to this question is yes. There are several reasons that have made me believe that it is morally justifiable in breaking the law; however the most convincing comes from Dr. Martin Luther King in his letter from a Birmingham Jail. " We can never forget what that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal..." (Classic Arguments 668). King went on in his letter to say that it would be against man made law to help a jew in Nazi Germany. What King said in his letter has to make a person think that not all laws are good for the group in society and morality is a justifiable excuse in breaking the law. Those who oppose my view on this question may be quick to ask me how come we go by law and not morality in society. Last year at St. Louis University I had a roommate with the complete opposite view on this question. He explained himself this way: Human nature consists of three basic components. These are to live, propagate, and to dominate. If humanity was left without any other parameters, this natural state of existence would govern its behavior. Fortunately there are parameters, and they are laws. (Mosier) What this basically says is that laws are made up to maintain order, monitor actions, and work for the best interest of society as a whole. If their were no laws chaos and anarchy would be widespread. This is why society has set up governments. To maintain order and to gives us safety. All of the above sounds good to me; however I have written a term paper on international politics that points out where our own gov... ... middle of paper ... ...ve a debt to owe to immoral or unjust laws that harm other people or groups of peoples. So to restate myself it is completely justifiable to break a law if it can be seen as unjust or destructive to many peoples. Dr. King would have been more than right by helping a Jew in Nazi Germany even though it was to be considered illegal. Works Cited Huston, Tim. "International Politics." Essay, International Business, St. Louis University 1996. Mosier, Mike. "The self as I See It." Essay, Philosophy 115, St. Louis University 1995. Rottenburg, Anette. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Letter From a Birmingham Jail." Elements of Argument.. Boston: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Sandisara, Samir. "Principals of Morals." (1996): Online. Internet. Available internet http://www.schoolemp.com/papers/science/philosophy/mor.txt.

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