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发表于 2010-3-16 17:28:27
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"There are two types of laws: just and unjust. Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey and resist unjust laws."
Laws are used to govern a society and control the behavior of its members. Concerning laws, the author asserts that since laws are categorized as just ones and unjust ones, every individual in a society is incumbent to obey just laws and to disobey unjust laws.
However, as far as I am concerned, such responsibility is neither jurally valid nor practically feasible and thus does not exist.
The threshold point is that the line between just and unjust is difficult to draw, according to discrepant people's beliefs, interests, experiences. In general, Asian people consider it natural to use a little violence when educating children. When they move to America, citizens around them insist such behavior is the violation of human rights. This "just or unjust" controversy is actually due to different culture background. Besides, personal factors may also result in divarication. For instance, certain laws may request residents in some historic buildings to move out for the protection of local culture. In the eye of common populace, doubtlessly, this law is just and considerate to ensure social interests. However, as for the residents, especially the elderly who have a complex sense of nostalgia, this law, which forces them to leave their homes, may be regarded as unjust. Consequently, it is inappropriate to lineate an explicit line between these two kinds of laws due to subjective judgment. Which types a law belongs to should be determined on a case-by-case analysis based on overall social conditions.
Furthermore, I have to make it clear is that it is our obligation to obey all of the laws, no matter it is just or unjust. Laws lie in the core values on which a society depends to thrive. They serve to regulate people's behaviors and action, enforced by corresponding penalties, punishment and remedies, absent of which any laws would be empty and ramshackle. Even those so-called unjust laws, we are not given the freedom to violate them. Just like the speed limit of highways: granted that it is improper, imagine what will happen if everyone drives at their ideal speed. The consequences can be extremely serious which may even threaten human lives. When we are allowed to disobey the unjust laws in our mind, we provide ourselves a reasonable assumption that we could violate any laws, which could demolish the stabilization of the society.
Admittedly, unjust laws do exist for ill-awareness of legislators or changing social conditions. When certain laws are widely acknowledged as unjust and harm the interests of most of the citizens in the society, people should attempt to modify these laws through legal access. With ever-changing situation, Constitution has been amended for many times and a host of regulation or laws do not adapt to modern society have been bowdlerized. Such effect is easy to reach in democratic society. Since 1954--- the first Constitution of PRC was enacted---the fundamental law has been amended 7 times. If the governors fail to perceive their people's wills, a revolution may break out to overturn autocracy and abolish the unjust laws. In a sense, instead of mere obedience and resistance to the unjust laws, people have more initiative and effective approaches to deal with them.
In sum, obeying laws is every citizen’s responsibility. Once people are accustomed to disobey whatever laws they consider unjust, laws will lose its authority and power of sanction. Afterwards, social stabilization will be threatened. When confronting with unjust laws, as a educated citizen, it is encouraged to defend ourselves through legal approaches. |
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