Breaking the Law "Just a Little"…

A thoughtful listener has sent these words from an inscription in a school auditorium: “Obedience to law, respect for others, mastery of self, joy in service⎯these constitute life.”¹ These are words to remember. The question of law and freedom and self-control has become of such concern as to be a constantly compelling subject. “Many today seem to be demanding for themselves the unlimited right to disobey the law,”² observed an eminent jurist. The shades and degrees of disobedience are of great concern, but the attitude of encouraging or condoning disrespect for law is of greater concern⎯for the breaking of law “just a little” is something one can’t turn on and off at will. It is such that once the line is crossed, there may not be any determinable stopping point in sight. Like a forest fire, it is hard to burn just to a pre-determined point. When you think you have it under control, it flashes over the breaks and the barriers. It is the character, the basic concept that is of more concern than merely the method. What is not lawful leads to breakdown, beyond what was perhaps intended, and in effect there may be no such thing as isolation or limitation in breaking law. We reaffirm this fundamental of faith: “We believe in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”³ To repeat the opening inscription: “Obedience to law, respect for others, mastery of self, joy in service⎯these constitute life.”¹ “Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand.”