Society raises its inhabitants to believe in the concept that obedience is acceptable whereas disobedience is unacceptable. As people grow up, they are taught that obeying the norms is a good thing whereas disobeying them is bad. These are the dictates of society, but these are not true always. This is because obedience is followed by showing submissiveness to something that might even harm society or any person involved whereas disobedience might make a person gather enough courage to take his stand against authority, all by themselves. Therefore according to Erich Fromm, “If a man can only obey and not disobey, he is he is a slave; if he can only disobey and not obey, he is a rebel.” (Fromm 686). As far as the truth in this argument goes, I agree with it. This is because of the reaction that the society gives to a person who would disobey what should have been obeyed and consider him wayward and headstrong and the opposite notions to a man who obeys without questioning and knows little of its consequences.
People are attuned to disobedience because it is ingrained in their minds and souls that obedience is linked to morality and ethics. To put this point precisely, Erich Fromm writes, “As long as a person is obedient to the State, the Church or the general opinion held by the public, he will feel safety, protection, and honor.” (Fromm 686). Yet this is something that has been inherited by man through societal implementation and teaching that have been passed down the generations. They have nothing to do with facts and logic; rather there is a stronger moral obligation when it comes to obedience. However, the strength of this moral obligation can be questioned easily when it comes to the manner in which the military tortures women and children in war and kills them when they are attacking their land. Even though unarmed women and children pose no danger to the enemy, they have to be killed because these men are obedient to their Nation and its safety. Perhaps disobedience in this task would have cost them their honor, but it raises serious questions with regards to the actual morality of these people.
As said above, people would be conflicted in terms of deciding where the obedience and morality stand in this respect. But as Solomon E. Asch writes, “the extent to which even the educated and able minds of the society have conformed to call white as black is alarming and disappointing.” (Asch 5). Hence, obedience becomes a duty more than a personal and informed decision.
On the other hand, going back to the origin of obedience and disobedience, Fromm mentions how these two have existed since the time of Adam and Eve, and it was their disobedience that produced the notion of freedom and independence. He writes that they were living in perfect harmony, yet they disobeyed. This freed them, and they opened their eyes to many other things which had been created for the man himself. (Fromm 384). Thus, they were human, and it was just another human ‘thing’ they did. This idea can be applied to the common man as well, because when man disobeys, he is usually supporting something which is different, unique and uncharacteristic of what had been originally presumed.
Critics of this might say that the disobedience of Adam and Eve actually changed the way things were supposed to be and had it not been their disobedience, then perhaps the idea of sinning would not even have existed. Yet it was disobedience that has become the root cause of all sin.
In answer to this, it can be conveniently said, that sin is a phenomenon that actually helps to make a man realize the difference between right and wrong. Had there been no distinction between the two, the virtues of life might not even be appreciated. Hence, if disobedience made them suffer, it also made them realize what they had done, and they could repent over the decision they had made.
The evolution of mankind has resulted from disobedience. This does not mean that every act of disobedience is correct, but at times refusing to do something that does not conform to one’s own beliefs is actually recognition of one’s strengths and independent thinking process. Life is more than just conforming to beliefs and ideas that have existed for centuries. (McLeod). With the passing years, trends and beliefs change and evolve and hence the ideas that people hold evolve as well. In this case, making them conform to the same levels of obedience is wrong as well as inappropriate. However here when even the educated minds do not believe that conformity is unnecessary, then it raises serious concerns over how people are being educated. (Asch 4).
This is because authority and superior elements in the society need to maintain their supremacy and upper hand thereby suppressing the voice of freedom and honesty. By the following obedience, in this case, is like allowing the society to imprison oneself. It has thus become a mechanical method by which people will conform obediently to anything they are told and not think about things themselves. (Passini). This reduces men nothing to the status of slaves because slaves will never question their master and will only do as they are told. Disobedience, however, is not always wrong either. Many scientific men, religious men, and scholars have defied authority and disobeyed it to become who they are.
Therefore, obedience and disobedience are notions created by the authority in society. Obedience is associated with conforming to the society and is considered the moral thing to do while disobedience is considered a sin. Obedience is a concept which is encouraged because an authority wants individuals to agree with what it dictates. Disobedience actually helps individuals realize their independence and freedom and learn right from wrong. Yet authority makes even the most educated of men amongst them conform to believe that white is black, which raises serious questions about moral and mental development.
Work Cited
Asch, E. Solomon. Opinions and Social Pressure. W.H. Freeman and Company. 1-5. 1955.
Print.
Fromm, Erich. Disobedience as a moral and psychological problem. 683-687. N.d.
McLeod, Saul. Obedience to authority. Simply Psychology. N.p. 2007. Web.27 Feb 2016.
Passini, Stefano. Authority relationships between obedience and disobedience. New ideas in
Psychology. Vol 27. 96-106. 2009. Web. 27 Feb 2016.
