Agreeing to Disobey essays

Agreeing to Disobey essays Blindly obeying authority often results in disobedience to one's personal morality. Since rules were established and exist for the common interests of the general population, some would say adhering to the rules is obedient. However, when rules conflict with people's morals, one has the right, and furthermore the responsibility to disobey. Contrary to popular belief, disobedience does not center around ignorant rebellion. In fact, disobedience is the manner in which people shed enlightenment on the well-traveled path of benightedness, by offering another point of view. By the dictionary's definition, disobedience is a violation or disregard of a rule or prohibition. Nevertheless, if people do not challenge their very surroundings, then they will never discover the many paradises that exist behind the garden gate of control and oppression. Through choosing to disagree, a person is exclaiming the fact that he/she will not negotiate the most personal aspects of his/her lives, such as his/her morals. Prime examples of two very different points of view are: the government drafting young men into the army, and the men being reluctant to go. Indeed, a pacifist is not going to be as patriotic as a navel-officer, however; the pacifist should not have to entertain the idea of killing a man, simply because he is expected to o bey. This opinion is not just an act of rebellion to a higher authority; it is a commitment to one's personal morals, simply because no higher authority exists beyond oneself. Edward Abbey, in his book Rain, Fire and The Will of the Gods, stated, "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government" (Abbey 156). Through this quote, Abbey shows that he was a man of great wisdom, or perhaps he was just a history major. To clarify this idea, it is a known theory that history repeats itself, and still society today has neglected to acknowledge an essential partner in the authentication of m...