Short Essay #1

Chris Love 5700434
January 12, 2010

Short essay #1

It’s ironic that James L. Lopach and Jean A. Luckowski’s article should come off as so contrarian, considering their subject matter. But in Uncivil Disobedience: Violating the Rules for Breaking the Law, the authors make a strong argument that clashes significantly with our culture’s current sentiment towards the noble idea of civil disobedience. At first, one might almost think this article to be an argument purely in favor of this practice, with a lengthy description of a defiant eco-radical group called Earth First!. The authors go into great detail about one of Earth First!’s more recent protests (a relatively peaceful attack on a logging truck), and subsequently the activities of several more well-known radical activist groups such as ACT UP! (Gay rights), and the Catholic League. However, Lopach and Luckowski have a serious bone to pick with these would-be disciples of Gandhi and King. They describe these groups’ appeal to the history of civil disobedience as “shockingly selective”, in that they compare themselves to Gandhi and King readily without living up to the strict guidelines of true civil disobedience that these legends originally set out (252). At this point, the authors ask a question that encompasses their whole argument; are American students being taught the true meaning of civil disobedience? (252).
As if this lambasting wasn’t harsh enough, Lopach and Luckowski go on to compare direct quotes from the now-jailed ELF (Earth Liberation Front) member Craig Marshall with those from MLK Jr. King, sitting in his jail cell in 1963, was heard to say “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”(252-253). Evidently, the civil disobedience of King and Gandhi is not anarchistic, but rather leans heavily on religious order to police its own actions. This is contrasted with Marshall, who advocates burning of log trucks and forcing large corporations into bankruptcy. Though his activist group, ELF, claims to be founded in the philosophy of “deep ecology”, and uses this as justification for any number of illegal acts, Marshall lacks the respect for law and society that King had (253).
A huge part of the problem, the authors tell us, is flaccid education of civil disobedience brought on by the modern constructivist education theory. “When viewed simply as a student-centered methodology and poorly applied, constructivism can-and does-lead to inadequate teacher-led explanations like that of the ’unjust law’”. Because constructivism gives so much weight to the personal opinion and feelings of the student, the whole idea of interdependent society and civil conduct is all but lost (254). Lopach and Luckowski go on to cite numerous examples of these faulty curriculums, textbooks that give a superficial description of civil disobedience, yet all leave out certain necessary components of the idea like religious purification and the respect for societal laws (255).
In my opinion, Lopach and Luckowski are too adamant on the details of civil disobedience, and seem to be making a point that any dissenter who doesn’t follow the strict guidelines of King and Gandhi (including the wacky religious purification bit) is doing something wrong. They fail to acknowledge the possibility that a new kind of civil disobedience has arisen, not a wrong kind. Also, the lack of a religious undertone shouldn’t be a downside to an activist movement- what good is it? Half the time, religion is what’s being protested in the first place. Although, I’ll concede that their point about the self-interested student who may defy the law simply for his/her own pleasure or comfort, ie, dissenting not out of a moral obligation but simply because conforming would totally harsh their mellow. But on the other hand, if conformity to a particular law is so unpleasant for this student, and maybe so for countless other students, doesn’t that law need re-examining? Isn’t that the true meaning of civil disobedience?

Works Cited
Lopach, James J. and Luckowski, Jean A. “Uncivil Disobedience: Violating the Rules for Breaking the Law.” Education Next. (2005). Print.