Morals and the Law

On the Morality of Non-Legal Political Tactics

Morality arises from virtue . It makes the determination of good or bad weighed before proper conduct , logic and experience . Yet what is logical and proper ? Can we equate moral with legal ? If not , how do we create an intersection of the two such that obedience to the law is also a moral act

The overlap between morality and law may be an ideal . A code of conduct becomes the framework of morality which is rooted in cultural norm and tradition , religion , ideology , philosophy and individual

conscience Laws as embodiment of political beliefs and values are ideally made when morals become a major basis . Yet , in the same way that no one is perfect , society is also an imperfect system and most of the time morals and laws do not meet in the same direction . The policy-makers are mostly humans with vested interests neglecting majority needs and demands . The shaping of laws ergo is a difficult task for the citizens in to create a law-abiding and morally-upright population . If not , moralists who pursue their perceived moral code of conduct might afford to disobey societal rules to satisfy morality or the law-abiders might dissatisfy the latter . However , the sources of morality at some point would contend each other vis a vis proper judgment . When this happens , every issue must represent a relative field of concern and must base the measure of morality on which aspect is dominant

In this I would like to present how activities of activists and political interest groups have transgressed legalities however may find justification on moral grounds . The example chosen are the environmentalists ' illegal pursuits against companies that degrade the ecology . In a political sense sabotage , rallies , arson and eco-terrorism which are done for the achievement of their political interests are considered political tactics . These are the measures adopted by organizations to create an impression of sustained efforts and operations to make the government act according to their wishes These political tactics are made outside of state means and are labeled anti-government . Using the framework of the existence of social movements , these strategies are expressed only when sympathizers lost trust in their lobbying capacities and find better attention in the non-state parameters

Yet advocates are confident on the righteousness of their position and actions . Here is an illustration of where the conviction is coming from Let us concentrate on Eco-terrorism . This simply has been defined as terrorism that is conducted for the sake of environmental causes Violence is employed but is directed against property of the target offenders . The damage that eco-terrorism has caused amounted to 42 .8 million for decades which in 2003 increased to 200 million dollars in property damage . Environmentalists have argued that the government have misinterpreted the acts of the so-called eco-terrorists and must refer to the acts of persons , companies and governments that are involved in ecologically irresponsible activities like deforestation , construction of infrastructures in agricultural suburbs , destroying habitat of animals and various...