Civil Disobedience/Uprooting, Love, and the Law

The means used to get to the end action do not excuse the means used to get there. People must understand the repercussions of their actions to others out of concern for others, regardless of what they have done. Cooperation with the right thing and noncooperation with the wrong are both moral obligations. People must also take responsibility for their behavior, according to the civil law. The end action is often preexisting and constitutive of the methods used to get there, requiring the methods to be as pure as the end.
People are obligated to consider the consequences of their behavior. “The person engaged in a peaceful struggle must never inflict harm upon another,” Pike, however, argues that activists consider the destruction of property a law of love which is quite inconsiderate. “They see property destruction as an act of love, and socially accepted activities such as building a ski resort or selling cars as violent acts against nature.”

As people do the right thing, they also have a civic responsibility not to do the wrong thing. “…it is as much a moral obligation to refuse to cooperate with evil as it is to cooperate with good” (Luther). According to this argument not doing the right thing delinquent as doing the wrong thing. People have to stand up against evil irrespective of the sacrifice needed.

The law dictates everyone’s rights and responsibilities, and property destruction is against the law. “Environmentalists choose a direct action, sometimes crossing the line to sabotage heavy machinery or set fire to buildings that symbolise for them global warming, pollution, habitat destruction, and mass extinction” (Pike). All citizens should respect and uphold the rules of a sovereign nation, including respect for private and public property.

We must ditch the communist philosophy of the end justifying the means and embrace the nonviolent resistance philosophy. Regarding this philosophy, “immoral, destructive means cannot bring about moral and constructive ends” (Luther). This conclusion is after consideration of the two, each with its consequences.

























Works cited

Love, Law and Civil Disobedience retrieved from

http://bigfatgenius.com/2220%20Fall%202010/King%20-%20Love%20Law%20and%20Civil%20Disobedience.html

Uprooting retrieved from

https://aeon.co/essays/eco-activists-speak-about-their-conversion-experiences