Civil Disobedience Strengths And Weaknesses

Martin Luther King, Jr. defines “civil disobedience” as a way to show others what to do when a law is unjust and unreasonable. As King stated in the letter from Birmingham, “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” When Negros were being treated unfairly, Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped in to show people how to peacefully protest and not be violent. The dictionary definition of civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest (Webster Dictionary). That is what Martin Luther King, Jr. did when nothing was changing in the town after the law for public school to be non-segregated. In

Throughout history, many well-known Americans have led peaceful resistance and civil disobedience efforts in order to defend their liberty, freedom, and basic civil rights. Peaceful resistance to laws does cause turmoil at the given moment but can end up being mutually beneficial for the conflicting parties. Certain instances of civil disobedience have played major roles in shaping the fabric of the nation we know today, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for civil rights in Alabama, Susan B. Anthony being arrested to draw attention to the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and the Sons of Liberty protesting British control during the Boston Tea Party. Without civil disobedience, the balance of power would lean too heavily in the favor of the

Civil disobedience has been shown in a great amount of different ways throughout the years. Martin Luther king Jr. expressed his way of civil disobedience by taking direct action but in a calm way which was effective. He wanted the people to be aware of what was going on and open doors for better groups of people who weren't given the same rights as others. Henry David Thoreau on the other hand took action as well but in a different manner directly with the U.S. citizens and government because he wanted more individual rights for the people. Both had the same ideas but took action in different ways and at the end, ended up succeeding in their persuasive ways.

Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey the demands or certain laws of a government/ occupying power. Without resorting to violence or active events of conflict, it is typically used in the form of a peaceful protest. Civil disobedience has been seen in historical context as a main approach and philosophy of nationalist movements in Africa, India, and also in the American civil rights movement. It can also be a useful tactic in labor, anti-war, and other social movements occurring in numerous countries around the world. In both Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, the author describes two very different displays of civil disobedience. Antigone disobeyed “man’s law” and buried her brother. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the other hand, fought to change the law for the rights of a large group of people. For this reason, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts were more admirable than the efforts of Antigone.

Throughout history, we have seen many examples of civil disobedience that has positively affected our society. Of these examples, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the most impactful cases known to the American people. While in the Birmingham Jail, he wrote a letter to the clergymen justifying his then recent endeavors. Words like peaceful, genuine good, and nonviolent all can be quoted from this letter. He stood for the African American people and their equality. He was ready to take the consequences for his actions and gracefully promoted his cause: segregation! We all know that through this, he got what he wanted accomplished. Now, every American citizen can live in equality and equilibrium.

We must be careful not to mistake for civil disobedience what is actually all too often these days, rather uncivil disobedience, in the forms of riots and looting and other forms of criminal conduct that sometimes takes place in the course of large-scale protests and demonstrations that get out of hand. The modern fathers of civil disobedience as a method of political expression and change are, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King, in the 1950s and 1960s, convinced hundreds and thousands of black Americans to peacefully agitate towards full legal and political equality in the United States. Both men -- and their followers -- faced police and military might and ruthlessness, and both suffered imprisonment, and worse, for their efforts. His followers and supporters, endured tremendous brutality and degradation, but instead of responding in the way they were being treated, they reacted peacefully, offering themselves as living sacrifices for the causes in which they believed.

t isn’t uncommon for the ruling power in society to create rules or regulations that are immoral and unjust. Civil disobedience is a useful method for protesting and declaring one’s opposition to unjust laws through nonviolence. Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr. both engaged in civil disobedience, but the manner in which they executed it varied. Out of the two, King is more deserving of sympathy due to his organizational skills in contrast to Antigone’s impulsive nature.

Civil disobedience is a belief that is practiced in which the people disobey the law in a peaceful manner because it does not come to an agreement with their moral values. Over the years this idea of challenging the government has developed into a duty for the people. This concept is explained in the piece “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. They both express acts of passive resistance in which the impact is still felt in the modern world. Although, these ideologies were used in Thoreau and King’s time, they need to be updated to fit in today’s world.

Over the course of history, there has been numerous cases where people have carried out non-violent methods such as protests and direct action to fight for their rights, seeking for people of authority to take action upon their wish to make alterations. In many instances, this act of civil disobedience has been efficacious. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he addressed his view on civil disobedience and stated “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” Because many leaders and average people in history have successfully used King’s belief to

The term “Dreamers” depicts a new set of immigrants in the United States. Dreamers are immigrant children who were brought illegally to the United States. The argument revolving around Dreamers is a controversial debate because the rule of law has clearly been broken, however by the actions of adults. Therefore, should children who were brought here through no fault of their own, be penalized because of the actions of adults? It is a great problem that faces this country.

The first reason why I think civil disobedience us ineffective is because it takes a really long time. For example, it took 27 years for Mahatma Gandhi to earn India its independence (“Gandhi Leads Civil Disobedience” 1). For most people, waiting 27 years for your country to earn

Civil Disobedience is remarkably effective without the violence that many had thought necessary. Several famous examples include the Salt March of Mahatma Gandhi, the Civil Rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr., and even the sit-ins of the factory workers during the industrial revolution. Although, many still argue that civil

It is imperative to understand that the United States of America was born through acts of civil disobedience. And because American freedoms are constantly in danger of being encroached on, it is also important that citizens are aware of the worth that civil disobedience can possess. Civil disobedience is when a person or people refuse to obey a demand or restriction by the state that conflicts with higher law and conscience. The act requires that the disobedient one accept whatever may be the consequence of refusing, whether it be imprisonment, moral condemnation, fines, even perhaps death. It should be done when one’s spiritual searching and sense of rightness permit no other response. (Day 65: Disobedient Friends – Quakers and Civil Disobedience) There have been many instances of civil disobedience throughout American history which have had a powerful influence on the legal system and society as a whole.

This article, written by healthcare professionals in the greater Philadelphia area, describes the methodology and findings of the early phase of a long-term study to determine the best ways to improve medicine taking compliance. A total of 132 subjects were selected through random sampling procedures from regular hypertension programs at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Patients were interviewed and filled out a questionnaire regarding how often they took their blood pressure medication. The results showed a positive relationship between blood pressure control and compliance, especially when compliance was differentiated between those who missed the occasional pill and those who missed three or more. The article notes that it is important to realize that, because the study relied on patients to accurately detail their behavior, some of the information must be taken with a grain of salt. Three variables were also found to contribute to explaining self-reported medication taking compliance. These were control over health matters, perceived barriers, and duration of treatment.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse writes that an estimated 9% of marijuana users will eventually become dependent on marijuana (National Institute, 2014). The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as “a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors” (American Society, 2011).