Good Thinking Often Requires Making Good Distinctions

Justin Taylor writes in a review on The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy by Spiegal and Cowan.

"Do you believe in civil disobedience--and if so, under what circumstances?

Spiegel and Cowan first provide a general definition: "Civil disobedience is generally defined as conscientious, public, and nonviolent resistance to unjust public laws or policies." Fair enough. But "unjust" in what sense? This is where some helpful distinctions can come into play:

First, some legal systems are unjust because they require evil. . .

Second, some legal systems are unjust because they promote evil. . .

Third, a legal system may be unjust because it permits evil. . .

Finally, a legal system may be unjust because it prohibits good acts. . .

In other words, someone might ask you if you believe in "civil disobedience," but it helps to know what form of injustice requires disobedience--is it when the government prescribes evil, promotes evil, permits evil, or prohibits the good?

Cowan and Spiegel then point out that "for Christians, only one category is noncontroversial: disobeying laws of the first variety where evil actions are mandated." But this then raises another distinction:

Passive civil disobedience involves a refusal to do what the law requires.

Active civil disobedience involves doing what the law prohibits.

So the point of this post is not necessarily "civil disobedience," but rather the importance of thinking carefully and distinguishing judiciously."

The reason why I post this is because it seems to me that this issue may become more of a reality in our lifetime (and no I'm not an alarmist), to which we must discern, between passive disobedience to evil mandated laws or a civil disobedience against laws that prohibit righteousness to God. The Apostles Peter and John say it well concerning the proclamation of the gospel...

"But Peter and John answered and said to them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard." ~Acts 4.19-20