Are You an Outlaw?

Can a person live free, yet live within the law?

Do you live within the law? That’s a trick question.  In a free society, why should we live “within the law”?  Yes, we should obey laws, but apart from not going too far past the speed limit and not assaulting people, there is no need to live “within the law”.

Huh? In other words, we all, black, white, liberal, conservative drive on the same roads and obey the same laws.  Did you ever drive down the road and wonder which of the other drivers were republicans, and which were democrats?  Neither have I. Yet, somehow, expectations are placed upon us to follow certain dictates, NONE of which are defined by law or in the constitution.  To me, that’s a little like living within some invisible cage.  We were never meant to meet some authority's expectations; we are only obligated to not break reasonable laws.

Before the concept of self-determination, we were all slaves, pretty much.  If not slaves, then serfs.  It was presumed that the aristocrats were the ones who knew best, and that we underlings were fortunate to have aristocrats to tell us right from wrong.  No, not just legal from illegal, but right from wrong.  That was then, this is now.  We are led to believe there are no aristocrats in America.  Well then, who ARE those people who are telling us right from wrong, and why the hell should I care?

Laws...Do we all get how laws are made?  No, it’s not consensus.  No, it’s not democracy.  Democracy is accurately called the tyranny of the majority. Legitimate laws get made based on what is the most good for the most people, while not being unreasonably unfair to any minority.  That’s what legislatures do, or are supposed to do.  I hate to sound like a civics textbook, but apparently these things need repeating.

If you and your friends all believe something is true, or should be true, or that everyone should see that you are right, well, good for you.  That does NOT equal the law, and nobody is obligated to care what you think.

I recently attended an interesting lecture about the Salem witch trials And it was not far from Salem.  About five people in the audience had ancestors who were executed for witchcraft.  Probably everyone has some awareness of the trials, but perhaps you are not aware that the trials were entirely proper and legally instituted.  There was proper witness testimony, both from accusers and from defense witnesses. People testified as to the “peculiar” behavior of the accused. Religious scholars weighed in, largely concluding that those who didn’t attend church regularly just might be witches.   There were all kinds of documents and proper court procedure.  It really wasn’t all that different than today.  Well, except that people were EXECUTED FOR WITHCRAFT!  Thank God we’re smarter than that now, right?  I said, right???? I’ll let you make your own assessments, but my answer is NO!  I’ve seen courts proceed with trials based on people’s beliefs and biases, and to hell with the LAW.  Innocent until proved guilty.  Yeah, right.

Which brings outlaws to my mind. Today, we think of an outlaw as someone like Jesse James.  But back in the day, an outlaw was someone who had his legal rights suspended.  Thus, no protection from the law. It could be the result of debt, or of a criminal act.  But, rather than be punished, they simply were declared to be outside the law; an outlaw. Such a person had no right to protection of his property, and could even be killed, with no consequence to the killer.  Being declared an outlaw was tantamount to a death sentence. No, we’d all rather live within the law. We all want that protection.  But good can become bad. I want to be protected from theft and murder, and I don’t mind having those same laws applied to me.  It’s of no consequence to me that I’m prohibited by law from stealing and murdering.  I imagine you don’t feel too inhibited, either.

What, then, does it mean to live within the law? Must I, on a daily, continual basis, obey some ill-defined dictates that are found nowhere within the law or the constitution?  Will I be accused of witchcraft simply because I march to the beat of a different drummer?  How about if I create my OWN drumbeat?  Will that get me crucified?  Cancelled? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are NOT free.  We are cowed by the thought of going our own way, diverting away from the herd, not conforming.  That’s not freedom.

I don’t choose to be an outlaw.  I will obey the traffic laws.  But I will be my own man at all times.  I will gather evidence where I find it, and draw whatever conclusions come from it.  I will obey the law, but I will NOT live within the law.