Ab Initio
15
Poster for a man for all seasons: before and after 'A Man for All Seasons'. The law behind the movie.
'A Man for All Seasons'. Some may see it as a multi-Academy Award winning film in the 60's.
However it is also an historical example of many cases we witness in today's world, where people in certain situations feel compelled to follow their conscience, which could be based on religious beliefs or other deeply held morals rather than obeying the law of the land.
Modern day examples include a wife wishing to end the life of her husband with an incurable disease but cannot legally do so in England, where assisted suicide is outlawed.
Another case involves a Muslim shop assistant refusing to sell a Bible to a customer.
In these sorts of cases people are sometimes willing to break the law where punishment is small. Alternatively, they may take the issue to another jurisdiction where the act is still legal. For example, the 'Dignitas' clinic allowing assisted suicide in Switzerland.
However, in 'A Man for All Seasons' Sir Thomas More's case is slightly different. He believed that there were no grounds to nullify King Henry VIII's marriage, so he refused to sign the annulment. So just like modern day cases, he saw a problem in the law that sought to be rectified as it conflicted with his personal beliefs.
However, sadly for Sir Thomas More, no one was going to vote against the King in the trial. Subsequently, he was sentenced to execution.
Today, at least in England, we live in a democracy where harsh unyielding laws are less likely to be applied as there is no dictator. Thankfully we have moved on since the case of the heroic Sir Thomas More.
Yet, where there still remains a clear conflict between law and morality, the modern approach is to join others with similar views and form pressure groups to force the Parliament into changing discriminatory laws.
This seems to be the right approach in democracy because no one should condone breaking the law when the system allows for progress that can enable laws to be changed.
Alexander Mireles