Since we are able to understand the concepts of right and wrong, humans are taught that there are certain rules that they are to live by for the rest of their lives. They vary from place to place, but they are the same at their core. There are common sense ones like “Do not kill” and “do not steal” and such things as that. Then there is another “class” that involves things that keep people from doing anything that would negatively affect other people; such as rules regulating driving and trespassing laws. The purpose of laws is to improve the lives of everybody by providing a structured code that everybody lives by. This gives people the sense of security by providing them with the knowledge that there are rules out there to protect them.
Now, as to the question of when it would be acceptable to break the law, there are two possible ways to look at this. There are times when it is socially acceptable to break the law and there are times when it is morally acceptable to break the law. The laws that are commonly broken that could be classified as socially acceptable would be ones like speeding, doing drugs, underage drinking, other related things. Then there are rules that are, by some, seen as morally acceptable to break. For instance, there are many people who do not morally believe that the law against polygamy, so they do not follow it, and accept the consequences when they are caught. I do not think that there should be laws prohibiting things like that because it challenges people’s legitimate moral beliefs, and makes them choose with abiding by the law and abandoning their morals or living by what they truly believe in but getting in trouble for it. Other similar laws are ones banning gay marriage or abortions. There is always an extent to which laws should be followed; like if it’s an emergency, laws are sometimes a hindrance against the solution, and therefore should be able to be broken without consequence.
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