Martin luther king Jr Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Martin luther king Jr - Essay Example According to the prescribed reading it was postulated by King that there are two types of laws which are the 'Just' and the 'Unjust'. King stated that he was in fact an advocate of obeying 'Just' laws, even going so far as to imply that all people have a moral responsibility to obey such laws, conversely it was argued that people also have a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. The example that King gave was that an unjust law was one in which a majority imposes laws that a minority must obey but does not make binding on itself, and from the opposite perspective a just law is one in which a majority is willing to impose on a minority but would also apply to themselves. In regards to a specific example, King believed that segregationist ordinances were morally unjust and as such people should not obey, and any law that forbade segregationist was inherently just. Building on this previous point King illustrated that he had been arrested for holding a rally without having a para de permit, and (In simplistic terms) he would have been breaking a 'just' law, however because the parade law was enacted to discourage freedom of assembly it then became an unjust law. From a personal perspective, I am also of the opinion that segregationist laws are by their nature morally unjust.