In class we discussed how sometimes civil disobedience is neccessary to bring about change or to get noticed. Alot of us said fine as long as they do it legally and don't bother anybody. Many of us say that the sit in lunches and marches and parades are a good thing for the civil rights movement. But these acts still interfered with people getting to work on time and also interfered with the efficency of businesses. Do you still think that these kind of acts are ok today. Take the million man march for instance.

Yes, I think civil disobedience is OK to use today. It some cases it may disrupt peoples lives and interfere with "business as usual" but that is the whole point. You won't be able to get anyone's attention if you don't interrupt in some way. Sometimes its neccessary to stop the happenings of daily life- so we can think about and address important issues- and hopefully bring about the changes desired.

I agree with Deborah. If someone wants to gain notice, they have to disrupt the daily flow. I think that an action that doesn't bother anyone is never going to be effective. September eleventh disrupted the flow of the entire nation. It was civil disobedience. this brings up the question of where the lines lies. Should we disrupt but not physically harm anyone? or does the line lie further tward civil obedice than that?

i agree with Deb. even though civil disobedience my interfere with some people's lives, the lives of the people protesting have been interfered with too.

I agree that you must make a SCENE to get your point across. If you just send a petition signed to Congress....hoping to get ur point noticed, HAHAHAHA, YOU MAY AS WELL BE ON THE BEACH SIPPING ON WHATEVER YOU SIP ON AT THE BEACH. The thing is, it seems these days that people that want to go against our Constitution do these things, but we never retaliate as we should to fight for what we think should stay the same. It seems to me like there are a lot more gay marriage marches than heterosexual marriage marches against homosexual marriages..?? It only took one person(athiest) to fight for prayer led by teachers etc... to be taken out of school, but we didn't get it back?? Even her son now thinks it should be in there?? Who knows!! Would it be wrong as a teacher if I led prayer in my class as CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE..... OOO......TOUCHY SUBJECT THERE!!

It's kind of crazy to think about isn't it. Drastic changes often can only come about due to revolution and rebellion. It'd be nice to see people start to reach for change, but I have a feeling we may be a ways from that. I recently found out that a guy i knew from my home town was involved in the sabotaging of some California Hummer Dealerships. He belonged to an extremist enviromental group. He believed what he was doing was in the name of Mother Earth. This guy was getting his masters in physics at Cal Tech, and now he's going to the pen for quite sometime. The point is, he knew he may've been caught, but he also believed holding up a protest sign might not convey the message.

I agree with many of these previous posters. Civil disobedience is important and acts as a catalyst for change. The disruption of daily civilization is essential to some extent. However, if there is an intention to harm, I think that takes the "civil" out of civil disobedience. The distinction the author who wrote about Rosa Parks made is crucial, in my mind - that timing and backing increase or decrease the power and result of one's actions. Charismatic leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi ( I always get mixed up on where the "h" belongs in that name?), and the guy (whose name escapes me) who helped Scotland gain independence (who "Braveheart" was based on) realize the pulse of a movement and have the gift of creative thinking to gain the power of the wave of social change. 911 terrorists, from their perspective, and from Bin Laden (sp?)'s saw their acts as "success" - but those acts were and are the antithesis of civil disobedience. Those are acts of terror - and are crimes against humanity and God.

Petitioning Congress, writing letters, making phone calls to Representatives do matter - because they are actions of participation in the system we, as citizens help to create.