Morality and Legality

I just read an opinion piece that included the following passage: "Each of us has personal responsibility for our actions. We cannot do bad things — even when ordered to — and still be a good person." These statements sound true to me, but they put many people, particularly cops and soldiers, into a difficult position. Their duty is to enforce laws, whether or not they are just, and to obey their commanders' orders, whether or not they are just. And a citizen's duty is to obey the law, whether or not it is just.

But I've said before on my blog that devotion to duty is not the ultimate good and that it is better to be Good than to be Lawful. I suppose that means that, when the law is wrong, it's our moral duty to disregard it. This is a concept that I'm going to have to wrestle with. I've always believed in obeying the law whenever possible and seeking legal methods to change bad laws. Rosa Parks illegally sat in the front half of the bus, but I'm not sure I would have, and I don't know whether that's a good thing or not.

I believe that, if a law requires me to do something that's morally wrong, I have a moral obligation to ignore that law, but that opens up a terrible can of worms. People have different ideas of morality, so if morality trumps legality, there's going to be a great deal of confusion and disagreement.

Yet, confusion and disagreement is better than obedience to bad laws. In D&D terms, I'd rather have a Chaotic Good society than a Lawful Evil society, or perhaps even than a Lawful Neutral society, which is what I think we have now. Right now, the law is the law, good or bad. I'd rather have a society that ignores the laws that impede acts that are good. I don't want anyone to ever say "I would do this good thing, but it's illegal, so I won't" or "I don't want to do this bad thing, but it's the law, so I will." If that means dismantling or ignoring the majority of our laws, I really don't know how to feel about that.

I want to be Lawful, but I feel that it's more important to be Good. Ideally, I would never have to choose, but when I do have to choose, the choice should be obvious. I should do the right thing, whether it's legal or not. But I'm not sure I'm committed enough to actually do that. I'd rather not get arrested and I don't want to make waves. I just want to quietly go about my life, doing good wherever I can. I don't want to break the law, but I don't want to break God's laws either. Hopefully, I'll never have to choose between them, but if I ever do, I think I've already made my decision.