Guiding Questions

• When is it moral to disobey the law?

• Can breaking the law be an act of justice?

• How do we balance social order with moral conscience?

The Paradox of Law and Justice

In a just society, following the law is considered virtuous.

But what if the law itself is unjust?

History reminds us that justice and legality are not always the same.

Many of the world’s most important human rights victories happened because people broke the law.

Consider:

• Slavery was once legal

• Women were once denied the vote

• Apartheid was enforced by courts

• Segregation was upheld by police

• Colonialism was defended as “order”

Those who challenged these systems — often at great personal cost — were called criminals before they were honored as heroes.

What Is Civil Disobedience?

Civil disobedience is the deliberate, nonviolent violation of the law to protest injustice.

It is not lawlessness or destruction.

It is conscience, made public.

Famous examples include:

• Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat

• Gandhi marching 240 miles to defy British salt laws

• Martin Luther King Jr. leading peaceful protests without permits

• Thích Quảng Đức self-immolating to protest persecution in Vietnam

• Greta Thunberg skipping school to strike for climate justice

Philosophical Perspectives

Henry David Thoreau

Refused to pay taxes funding slavery and war. He declared that people of conscience must disobey unjust laws.

Martin Luther King Jr.

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, he wrote:

“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

Hannah Arendt

Observed that totalitarian regimes thrive on blind obedience.

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

Two Approaches to Law and Justice

Some believe law equals order:

• Obeying the law is the foundation of a fair and stable society.

• Even flawed laws should be followed — until they are changed through proper channels.

Others follow conscience as the higher law:

• When a law violates basic human dignity, justice demands resistance.

• Morality must guide action — even against the law.

A Thought Experiment

Imagine a law forbids girls from going to school.

You are a teacher.

Do you obey the law — or do you teach in secret, knowing you could be arrested?

Which is more just: following the law, or breaking it in service of education and equality?

Risks of Civil Disobedience

Breaking the law, even for justice, carries serious risks:

• Arrest

• Jail time

• Police violence

• Loss of livelihood

• Public misunderstanding or ridicule

Yet history shows that most deep social change comes not from asking nicely — but from courageous resistance.

Principles of Civil Disobedience

To remain just and effective, civil disobedience often includes:

• Nonviolence – Refusing to harm others, even when harmed

• Transparency – Openly accepting the legal consequences

• Moral clarity – Guided by conscience, not chaos

• Civic courage – Willingness to suffer for a higher good

• Strategic disruption – Shining light on injustice by refusing to comply with it

Reflect and Discuss

• Is it ever your duty to break the law?

• How do we know whether a law is truly unjust?

• What separates a hero from a criminal?

• What risks would you take for a cause you believe in?

Suggested Readings

• Civil Disobedience – Henry David Thoreau

• Letter from Birmingham Jail – Martin Luther King Jr.

• From Dictatorship to Democracy – Gene Sharp

• The Ballot or the Bullet – Malcolm X

• Disobedience and Democracy – Howard Zinn

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Module 3: Institutions and Injustice – When Systems Break the People They’re Meant to Serve

Explore how power flows through courts, corporations, and constitutions — and how justice is often filtered, delayed, or denied.

“The arc of the moral universe is long — but it bends toward justice… only if we pull.”