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Muhammad Ali's Anti-War Stand Was Civil Disobedience

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Our disobedience enstils the passion our contemporary society continues to have for what we feel is just. Peaceful resistance to unjust laws benefits a free society by giving the American people a voice in government. History and contemporary media has proven that protesting our governmental ideals is a strong and powerful means of changing the government. Martin Luther King Jr. protested the horrendous treatment of African-Americans in the 1960s by bringing people together in order to end racial segregation in the United States. King included in his Letter From Birmingham Jail that "an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.” To clarify, he means that people create laws to create relevancy …show more content…

His decision was vastly looked down upon because many believed he was refusing his country by refusing to serve. However, “History has vindicated his principled stand against a war nearly everyone now considers a mistake” (Muhammad Ali's Anti-War Stand Was Civil Disobedience, Not Draft Dodging) because this form of civil disobedience is now justifiable. His stand for what he believed in went against what most felt was right in the time, but abided by his morals and was seen as so later on; this opposition of an “immoral and unnecessary war” further asserted the necessity of civil disobedience in a contemporary society by demonstrating a public figure against the will of the government. His so-called “draft dodge” was a mere cry for help against an unjust means of protruding power and superiority over another nation. Today, many deem for a peaceful future, separate from a past filled with war and hatred, and reflect the ideals of Muhammad Ali in preventing oneself from experiencing the torture brought about by a nation’s rules when it does not reflect the wishes of the people. Our nation has made great strides in unifying citizens under one flag and aiming to create a place where civil disobedience is unnecessary. In current society, many still wish to prevail in their own battles against governmental laws and policies in order to gain personal freedoms- similar to that of Ali, maintaining his freedom from the draft. In order to demonstrate what we need from our government, we must break away from what others may feel, and abide by our own morals in the pursuit of preserving personal

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