Breaking the law.

MyshiningOne · Post by **MyshiningOne** » April 21st, 2007, 11:20 pm

Is breaking the law always wrong, or is it acceptable if it saves someone's life or brings
about good?

cynicallyinsane · Post by **cynicallyinsane** » April 22nd, 2007, 12:43 am

I think it can be okay. Lot's of good people have broken the law.

MyshiningOne · Post by **MyshiningOne** » April 22nd, 2007, 12:44 am

How would you specify how it would be okay?

Patrarch · Post by **Patrarch** » November 11th, 2007, 5:26 pm

I find law irrelevant to morality. I believe law was only created to attempt and keep people in line because we forgot how to be naturally moral. I attribute this to the fact that we grow up from small children being taught to act based on a system of punishment versus reward, and when there is a chance of not being caught we act immorally because the punishment or reward are the only forces keeping us in structure. Learning to act based on punishment vs. reward (Governmental laws, Religions involving deities, etc) is severely detrimental to a person's empathic development, as has been shown with case studies in Psychology. This "stunted" empathic development in people is the cause of a lacking of moral sense. Laws are only necessary to be in place when people are lacking this fully developed natural empathic ability in order to point them in the right direction. That's alright, but where the system fails is when there is a small probability of being caught. When the threat of being caught is not salient, a person developed in this system does not have any motivation to act morally. The only attribute the Christian moral system has going for it is the fact that it is ALWAYS a fact that you will be "caught" for acting immoral. There is no chance of escaping the punishment. Besides the other numerous problems with that moral system, the threat of hellfire is not salient to many people and does not give them enough motivation to act morally without any other aid. This is the reason empathic development is so incredibly important.

November 12th, 2007, 1:28 am

I agree with Patrarch.

I think it becomes obvious when you consider that anything can be illegal, and anything can be legal. For example, the government could say that men can rape women, and make it illegal for women to defend themselves. Would it be immoral for women to refuse to have sex with men then? Would it be immoral for women to defend themselves?

Thanks,
Scott

Patrarch · Post by **Patrarch** » November 12th, 2007, 4:39 pm

Exactly. For example in the Old Testament of the Bible it is proclaimed a "law" that if a man rapes a woman and nobody hears the woman cry out, then she is to be stoned to death. Does anybody now think that it is moral to punish rape victims just because of this ancient law? No. Obviously not.