Civil Disobedience: The American Way

Commentary from Karen Murray, Alaska CP State 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.”

One of the greatest tragedies of 21^st 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 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.

Henry David Thoreau, an American transcendentalist author/philosopher who lived in the 19^th 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 (see footnote below)¹

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. 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 judge ruled because the flax had been destroyed, all the sheep must be destroyed. Case closed. A young boy about 14 years of age shouted, “This is an Unjust judgement!” In those times anyone could challenge a case in this manner and of any age, so the boy was asked to prove his statement. He explained that the flax could grow back the following year, but the sheep would not. A 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 and unnatural 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 Civil Disobedience, and 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, you can expect some sort of reaction from those who would be tyrannical. Expect more articles on some of these issues in the near future.

LET’S GET STARTED!

Know the issues. I recommend the following sources in the state of Alaska:

Local news and radio media outlets

Know the Law. The Alaska Court System provides useful links on its Legal Resources website page.

Know your Representatives: District, names, and contact information is available on the Alaska State Legislature website.

For our posterity’s sake, it’s time we-the-people Speak and Act to re-establish America’s basic liberties of free speech, freedom of association, and religious freedom. The Constitution Party is dedicated to doing just that through the political process but that is not enough. Each of us who still hold to the traditional American values must decide our course of action. Don’t let our country burn down!

¹Schultz, 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

Opening Quote citation: [Roger K. Hudnut, 1971; A Sensitive Man and the Christ, page 21]

The Alaska Constitution Party is affiliated with the national Constitution Party.

We are committed to re-establishing America’s Constitutional Republic, according to the original intent of the Founders of our nation, using the existing political process and all lawful means at our disposal.

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