The American ideal is expressed in we are "a nation of laws, not of men," a saying espoused by John Adams in 1780, but was also expressed earlier by Aristole and Plato. This concept, sometimes framed "nobody is above the law" and "the law applies to all alike" is a noble one.

It is important to be aware that men make or choose the laws that govern a society and determine their meanings whether or not they are applied equally to all or contain exceptions and loopholes that render them unjust or unfair even when legally executed.

Nature is believed by many to be the true source from which laws are to be extracted or chosen. Natural law, in philosophy, is a system of right and justice held to be common to all humans and derived from nature rather than from the rules of society, positive law, or men's conceptions of morality. "Whose  morality?"

It is apparent that the expression "God's law," is a misnomer. God is not a law. He is love and Spirit. But laws are created by God, as can be recognized in the physical world with the law of gravity.

Ultimately, the laws for society are justifiable when they are based on the discovery and detectioin, rather than creation and invention, of natural law. These laws are to be administered with love and in the Spirit. The one commandment Jesus gave which he called a new commandment says,  "love God and love man." Love is the standard in livingness. It can be stated in four words "Give all to love." But how is unlovely man to make and choose laws that are based on love? The simple answer is, he has to learn how to love which begins with loving himself. He will then love others and God as he loves himself. Right and justice are the essence, character and demonstration of love. Love is the greatest power in the universe. It is preeminent as is its Source.

The pursuit of people in any society should be "toward more perfect laws" which may mean abolishing some laws and instituting other laws that will encourage the practice of community. When there is community no link in the human chain is any weaker than its strongest link. A society needs laws. But a society needs laws that promote right living, justice and peace.

The righteous person although bound by duty to obey the laws of the land, may choose to disobey laws that run counter to the demands of love, and willingly appropriate courage to endure the punishment that may be meted to him.

Copyright 2011 by Uriah J. Fields.

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