On the record
It is the problem of knowing when a man ought deliberately to make up his mind to break the law or to refuse obedience to it.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “It is the problem of knowing when a man ought deliberately to make up his mind to break the law or to refuse obedience…”
Editor's note · Context
Laski raises the ethical dilemma of when it is appropriate to disobey the law.
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More from Harold J. Laski
Ultimately, that denial is always made upon the same ground: it is insisted that the doctrines or practices attacked are subversive of the civil order.
Each age makes some idol in its own image and sacrifices upon its altar the freedom of those who refuse it worship.
He is able, accordingly, to indulge in the twofold luxury not only of preserving his own authority, but also of assisting the persons attacked to enter, if they so choose, the way of truth.
The essence of the persecuting position is always that the persecutor has hold of truth and that he would betray its service by allowing it to be questioned.
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