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Originally Posted by Prof
That's not quite what I meant. I'll give an example. Suppose the government were to pass a law requiring people to wear red socks on Wednesdays. That law would have no moral justification but it would not be morally objectionable to obey it because the colour of my socks has no moral relevance. However, if the government were to require people to be naked on Wednesdays (even if they could morally justify the decision), I would consider it morally objectionable to obey.
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I would consider any unjust law to be morally objectionable. It is not about the decency of the obliging law but whether it is constitutional and just. In fact you stumble over your own argument. You state that "By whose ethics do you judge the laws?". However by your own estimation saying that it is not morally objectionable to be forced to wear certain socks, while it is objectionable to be forced to be naked, is irrelavent. How do you decide which is objectionable? Many people consider nudity to be heinous and others consider it natural.
My views are the same as Kazuaki's. A law much constnatly justify its existance. That is in fact the way that western law works. Every law must stand up against the constitution. If it is judged to be unconstitutional then it must be stricken down. Laws are not concrete, only the constitution is. Therefore you cannot pick and choose which laws you think are worth fighting. Every law must be challenged and you can't let anything go.
If a law serves no purpose then it must be challenged. In modern society citizens should then fight to see it taken back. Since nobody is harmed by downloads it is a non-violent form of protest and disobedience. Civil disobedience is a cornerstone of modern democracy. Not to mention that with our governments being so corrupt it is difficult to get their attention by saying "please". Music downloading is widespread, now they have to look at it and consider it. If you all stop and just send emails to Members of Parliament and Members of the House then it likely wont get any attention.