Some of the most immoral people alive will follow the law to the letter while completely skirting around the intent of the law. Many politicians follow this road as srothstein notes. I have know a handful of men who would make promises and handshake agreements which they would entirely disregard at a later time because their was no contract. These type of people I find especially distasteful.srothstein wrote:
For people who are less strict in their moral reasoning, there are some who believe in obeying the law. They do not tie morals and law together. A lot of politicians fall into this group, as can be seen when they are caught in unethical situations. Their first defense is "I did not break the law." This is also true, so there are definitely some people who obey the law simply because it is the law, not tied to their morals in any way.
I tend to separate man's law from God's law. We can do some really terrible things that are 100% legal, but that doesn't make them right. I look at obeying man's law as "render unto Caesar". We need to respect our leaders and our societal laws, but we have to do what is moral and right as well.
These two are my favorites:
11.”No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He, who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at discretion.”
~James Burgh
99.”To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic.”
~Ted Nugent