imported post
HankT wrote:
ixtow wrote:
Being a 'law abiding citizen' is nothing to crow about. The Law is no longer a noble or even marginally decent thing.
You sound kind of absolutist, ix.
Do you follow
any laws?Some? A few?
I'd say I am aligned with a lot of laws, but in their absence, I would still be aligned with the principles.
I don't need laws to keep me decent. I'm a civilized person.
But when the law becomes uncivilized, I stay aligned to the principles it elects to defy.
Now, re-read what I said quoted above in a non-presumptive context.
I didn't say that the law is wholly dis-honorable and should always be disobeyed.
Since the law has disqualified itself as a moral concept, it cannot be used as a moral qualifier.
To say "I'm a good person because I obey the law" is no different from saying "I am the Tooth Fairy because sausages."
Common-sense, basic decency, just plain not being a jackass... When the law fails to follow these basic concepts, it is the law that is wrong, not the citizen. continuing to obey it even when you know it is wrong, makes you a coward and a supporter of the same wrongdoing.