To obey an unjust law is to approve of it.

To obey an unjust law is to approve of it.

The law of the land is very important in any country, because it gives a structural framework for society to act and behave. Law is a set of rules and assumptions that people must follow for a safe and prosperous society. Although not everyone may approve a law does not necessarily mean that they shouldn’t follow it. Obeying the law is an expected duty of a citizen of any community or they will face consequences. These consequences are determined based on the severity of the offense. Despite this, there are situations where the law can be unjust and people have to choose whether or not to obey it.

Firstly, sometimes people obey an unjust law and approve of it, because if they do it will benefit everyone in society. For example after the horrors of September 11 the United States as a whole was shaken by the terrorist attacks. In response to these events, the aftermath reaction by the US government was a very drastic one. Under the Bush Administration , the Department of Homeland Security was established in an effort to protect the country from major attacks in the future. As a result of this establishment, new laws such as the No Fly List and new sub-agencies such as the Transport Security Agency were proposed and passed unanimously by the legislative assembly. The No Fly List is a list that categorizes people as terrorists and prevents them from flying at all costs. The controversy of this legislation is that, many citizens were anxious as to how the government is generating this list and what criteria they were using to separate people. Based on terrorist actions by militant groups such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Muslim Americans and immigrants were the first to be on the list because a new stereotype was established after this incident. Next, the TSA tries to make the airports and other ports of entry more safe by having security checkpoints as a means to prevent acts of violence. As a result, despite these new establishments and controversies behind them,  people follow the rules to make their country safe.

On the other hand, people will obey an unjust law, and don’t comply with it because if they don’t, consequences such as punishment have to be faced. During the Civil Rights movement in the United States and Anti-Apartheid movements in South Africa blacks as well as other minority groups were labeled to follow segregation rules that applied to them. In the US, the segregation laws were very strict in that blacks had to use separate public facilities such as schools, shopping malls, and churches or severe penalties would arise. Likewise in South Africa, the Ubuntu laws had strict rules for blacks in that curfew hours were placed in communities when blacks and minorities can not come out. Separate and often inadequate facilities were given to blacks which is unjust, but compliance was inevitable or punishments such as tear gas and even imprisonment could occur. Therefore, obeying an unjust law is not really approving it.

All in all, the law is there to protect everyone and in some instances it doesn’t. The justification of the laws can be determined by what it will accomplish. If an unjust law is established to protect everyone it is most likely obeyed by everyone to maintain safety. However, if an unjust law is there to separate people and harm them, then it is followed to avoid punishment but not necessarily approve the law.