Post 2: Is a Just or an Unjust Law Relevant?
One may state: ‘Whether a law is just or not is irrelevant.’ Hitherto, there are two kinds of laws: unjust and just. I would advocate obeying just laws. An individual has a legal and moral responsibility to obey laws that are just. At the same time, one has a moral obligation also to disobey unjust laws.
Specifically, relating this to law and morality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at one time expressed that “it is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor for all people” (Dr. King Jr). King exercises Thomas Aquinas’ rule of Natural law to make a distinction between just and unjust law. He believed that law shouldn’t be recommendations or suggestions but instead meant to command and bind humanity to form its act in a certain way. Unjust laws are human laws that are not rooted in eternal and natural laws. Through natural law, divine intellect designs and commands reality to a mutual conclusion. Humans merely act for the benefit of humanity — we discover law instead of make it, leading to the idea of natural law.
Moreover, applying unjust and just law to real events, the Jim Crow laws exemplify legal injustice in our unjust system. Creators of the Jim Crow passed the law to hinder personal growth for all Americans regardless of race. For instance, the law made it “unlawful for a negro and white person to play together…” until 1965 (Letter from Birmingham Jail, King). Thus, it essentially uplifted another racial group at the expense of another group. In addition, the Civil Rights Movement in 1954 led to protest against unjust laws, disobeying the law in its entirety.
As Thomas Aquinas’ Theory of Civil Disobedience expressed, “obedience or compliance is a virtue under ordinary conditions” (Summa Theologia).
If a law is unjust, citizens have the responsibility to disobey. Disobeying an unjust law that hinders equity and progress in society. Citizens must naturally disobey the tyrannic system. Since the overwhelming evil of slavery exemplifies the reason to break unjust laws, the forces we presently face will crumble and collapse.
WORKS CITED
Aquinas, Thomas. “Summa Theologiae.” SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: Home, New Advent, 2020, www.newadvent.org/summa/.
King, Martin Luther. “Letter From Birmingham City Jail (Excerpts).” Teaching American History, Ashland University, teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-from-birmingham- city-jail-excerpts/.
