Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Third Party Responsibility

America’s Outback notes a bill under consideration in New Mexico which could make bands, concert promoters, and organizers liable for criminal penalities if attendees smoke the evil weed.  Sheesh.  The conclusion of the post is the reason for my link.

"It is amazing to me that people can believe that laws should not be challenged via willful disobedience: i.e. that laws should never be broken and merely challenged via the legislature. Consider the civil rights movement, or challenges to bans on certain literature or art. Think about ridiculous sodomy laws, or even prohibition of alcohol. Had Rosa Parks never sat in the front of the bus, had people never pressed for (and gone ahead with) publication of books considered obscene, had people in those dozens of states where everything from a blowjob to anal sex was (until very recently) a crime simply said, “well, golly, it’s against the law, so I better not” then it is likely that no progress on these fronts would never have been made.

Had mixed-race couples never challenged the law by seeking marriage, had homosexuals stayed in the closet and never said “What you are doing to us is unfair” …..

My blood boils over when people make the case that no one should challenge the government and its laws. Dissent is one of the highest forms of patriotism. Sometimes that means breaking unjust laws."

Dissent is not only good, it is essential.

Posted by John Venlet on 05/25 at 06:06 AM
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