The fabric of any prosperous political community in the world is bestrewn by threads of peace and social order. The desire for social order and peace catapulted human beings to surrender to some of their unalienable rights, bestowed upon by nature, in exchange for security from the government. John Locke asserts that life in the state of nature was short, nasty and brutish.The war of every man against every man acted as a catalyst for man to leave the state of nature and become party to a society governed by the rule of law.
Although the rule of law is better than that of an individual it came with its own intricate complexities. The thin line between the authority of the state and personal authority appears to blur in exercise of state operations. Governments sought to control every aspect of people’s life, legitimacy of that authority began to be questioned. Society was mired in confusion. The question of whether to obey religious dictates or the legal proclamations has troubled many minds since antiquity. Civilians sought to merge the two institutions thus giving the decisions by the monarch or the aristocrat moral authority.
The aforementioned conflict was the main subject of controversy in the trial and death of Socrates. Socrates held unpopular beliefs about the Greek deities contrary to what majority of the people thought to be eternal truths. Socrates argued that the gods could not indulge in immorality. In addition, he failed to attend important religious ceremonies. He further claimed that he had received a divine revelation to shun politics and concentrate in philosophy. At that time he was teaching philosophy to a group of young people.
An Athenian citizen, Meletus, filed a charge against Socrates in the public court. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth and impiety. Socrates argued that he would rather be put to death than stop teaching philosophy which he referred to as soul saving. The court voted with a narrow margin that Socrates was guilty. When he was asked for a fine, he asked to pay five minas, which was a fifth of his wealth. His students, Plato being one of them mitigated for 100 minas on his behalf. As a punishment Socrates requested for free meals at the Prytanium; a place where Olympic heroes were given free meals. The infuriated court voted overwhelmingly for the death penalty.
In his last words, Socrates stated that history would judge Athenians harshly for his trial. This happens to be true with the adoption of bill of rights in the UN charter. The trial of Socrates portrayed a country that limited the freedom of expression and suppressed their citizens by subjecting them to a state religion. Laws that directly interfere with people’s lives should be abrogated.
The tug of war between pleading allegiance to the state and following one’s religious dictates came into play in Sophocles Antigone. Two brothers leading opposite sides died while fighting for the throne. Creones became the new ruler of Thebes when the war came to an end. He chose to reward Etoecles and put Polyneices into public shame. Etoecles was buried and Polyneices was left out in the open. Creones commanded Polyneices not to be buried as a punishment for his for supporting the opposing side. The religious beliefs of her sister Antigone required her to bury her dead brother. Antigone pleaded with the king to allow her to bury her brother but did not listen. She went ahead and buried Polyneices against the king’s wish.
Creones upon receiving the news of Polyneices burial ordered Antigone to be buried alive. A Prophet Tiresias came to warn him that if he did not bury the deceased the gods would not accept sacrifices from Thebes or listen to their prayers. He also reported that the son of his loins will die as a result of this calamity. Creones immediately changed her mind and ordered Polyneices to be buried. Antigone fearing being buried alive committed suicide. Creones’ son committed suicide upon learning of the death of her lover; Antigone. The king was left feeling dejected and remorseful for his unjust actions against the state.
For a political society to be safe and orderly, the government should find the balancing line between the authority of the state and religion of the people. Chaos is bound to arise if the decisions of the government conflict with the religious beliefs of the people. As was the case with Antigone, people are more inclined to obey religion than to uphold their allegiance to the state. They would rather choose to die for what they believe in as opposed to what the states dictates. For social order and harmony to prevail, the government has to uphold peoples autonomy and let people choose between wrong and right when it comes to matters that affect their own lives.
Robert Paul Wolfe contrasts moral autonomy of an individual and the legitimate authority of the state. Wolfe believes that the two are almost if not incompatible. Wolfe argues that one has to surrender his personal autonomy or embrace anarchism. Wolfe expounds this doctrine by saying that people would rather be in a stateless society than being in a state where personal autonomy is violated and the operations of the government are cloaked with the shroud of injustice. Anarchists obey authority not because it is legitimate but it is convenient to do so. The same principle would comfortably apply in a state of nature or uncivilized acts that can only be categorized to be in the state of nature. An anarchist would give money to a bandit not because he bandit has legitimate authority but because he or she wants to save his life. An Anarchist would follow traffic rules to avoid the inconveniences that come with being on the wrong side of the traffic law.
John Locke argues that a legitimate government would not infringe people’s rights and fundamental freedoms. This would go against the reason why human beings left the state of nature and entered civilized societies. He argues that in the state of nature human beings were equal and were free to order their liberty and property as they deemed fit. Such freedom was bestowed upon men and women by God and should not be taken way from people or infringed by the state. Locke’s main preposition was that the government should give people the opportunity to make decisions in areas that directly affect their life.
In summary, for social order and peace to prevail the government should respect personal autonomy of the citizens. People are more likely to rebel against legitimate authority that goes against their religious beliefs and adhere to draconian decrees from the government. A political community would be safe and healthy if the religion and the state work hands in glove.
Works Cited
Aristole. The Nicomachean Ethics. New York: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC., 2007.
Locke, John. Second Treatise of Government. New York: MobileReference, 2010, 2010.
Plato, M Cooper John and G M Grube. The Trial and Death of Socrates (Third Edition): Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Death Scene from Phaedo. New York: Hackett Publishing, 2000.
Sophocles. Antigone. New York: Richer Resources Publications, 2007.
Wolfe, Robert Paul. In Defense of Anarchism. California: University of California Press, , 2008.
