CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: THE AMERICAN WAY
Karen Murray, Alaska Constitution Party Chairman
“Not to Speak is to Speak. Not to Act is to Act. To do nothing when a house is burning is to do something — it is to let the house burn. To say nothing when a country is burning is to do something — it is to let the country burn.” 1
One of the greatest tragedies of 21st Century America is its lack of education in regard to American history, literature, political philosophy and religious thought.
We are drowning in mega-terabytes of information on a daily basis, yet we seem to be more confused and chaotic in our thinking than ever before. More information does not seem to equate to more education. The type of information presented is more important than the amount of information.
One of those missing pieces is the lack of knowledge on how to use logic, reasoning, and debate on issues about which we might disagree. As a people, we are becoming increasingly reactionary rather than taking well-thought-out action towards fixing whatever the problem may be.
Our conversations often turn into confrontations, bullying, and violence, with no real solutions achieved. When political decisions are made which are in opposition to the founding principles of the Republic, those which violate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; when the representatives of the people are only representing themselves or their financial backers, many people feel that there is no way to repair the damage, except through violence. It’s time to re-educate our people on the art of Civil Disobedience.
What is Civil Disobedience?
Civil Disobedience is peaceful action by a citizen or group of citizens against a law, policy or regulation established by a governing authority.
The first American example of Civil Disobedience was in response to the Quartering Act of 1756. As more British troops arrived in America during the French and Indian War, Parliament decided that the colonies should feed, clothe, house, and provide transportation for them. New York decided that it would not support such a mandate. The state assembly felt that the act of implementing it would send a message to Parliament that they supported the law. Instead, the act of non-compliance sent a stronger message that the colony did not recognize the authority of the state to impose such a mandate. They were later censured for this in one of the Townshend Acts.
Henry David Thoreau, an American transcendentalist author/philosopher who lived in the 19th century wrote an essay called “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”. Thoreau was concerned about a lot of government overreach in his day, but specifically slavery and the Mexican American War. It is an enlightening work, surprising in its application to the situation Americans find themselves in today, and I highly recommend reading it.
Another source for parts of this article is “Civil Disobedience: A Constitutional Alternative to Justice” by Samuel H.J. Shultz.2
Rules of Civil Disobedience
Rule #1: There must be an official government law, policy, regulation, etc. in place.
Rule #2: That law, policy, regulation, etc. must be deemed to be Unjust. A good example of the concept of what is Unjust comes from the ancient Brehon Laws of Ireland. In this case, a flax farmer’s field was adjacent to a sheep herder’s pasture. One day the sheep escaped into the farmer’s field and devoured the flax. This destroyed the farmer’s income for an entire year, until another crop could be raised. The farmer sought compensation by bringing his case before the local Brehon (judge). The Brehon ruled that because the flax had been destroyed, all the sheep must be destroyed. Case closed. In those ancient times, any member of the community could challenge a Brehon’s decision. A young boy about 14 years of age shouted, “This is an Unjust judgement!” The boy was asked to prove his statement. He explained that the flax could grow back the following year, but the sheep would not. He suggested that a truly Just decision would be to simply order that the sheep be sheared, and the fleece given to the farmer to compensate for the loss of his crop.
Rule #3: All appeals to common sense and calls to reverse the government act in question have been ignored or punished by public officials. A good example of this is found in very recent events in America. Mask mandates and vaccine mandates are both examples of unjust government actions, which spawned spontaneous acts of Civil Disobedience by individual citizens across the country.
Rule #4: The word “civil” has two meanings when applied to the term Civil Disobedience. It refers to government authority, but it also applies to peaceful and logical conduct. Although Civil Disobedience has been practiced in various forms throughout history, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and the 1960’s as well as the American Indian Movement of the 1970’s are two examples many of us remember still. Violence eventually erupted in both these movements and the reasons are varied and complicated. Yet both began as powerful examples of Civil Disobedience. Will the future look back upon the battle to re-establish America’s Constitutional Republic as a beacon of light in a dark world? Only time will tell.
Consequences
There are always natural consequences for any choice we make. Newton’s Third Law of Motion applies here in more ways than one: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
If you choose to practice positive Civil Disobedience, you can expect some sort of negative reaction from those who would be tyrannical.
There are an endless number of government acts which need to be overcome by exercising this Duty of American citizenship, indeed it can be said to be a Duty of all humans – to defeat tyranny through peaceful and lawful means.
Roger K. Hudnut, 1971; A Sensitive Man and the Christ, page 21.
Schultz, Samuel H.J. (2019) “Civil Disobedience: A Constitutional Alternative to Injustice,” Mitchell Hamline Law Review: Vol. 45: Iss. 2, Article 9. Available at: https://open.mitchellhamline.edu/mhlr/vol45/iss2/9
Timely article!