Disobeying An Unjust Law

A civil resister ever obeys the laws of the state to which he belongs, not out of fear of the sanctions, but because he considers them to be good for the welfare of society. But there come occasions, generally rare, when he considers certain laws to be so unjust as to render obedience to them a dishonor. He then openly and civilly breaks them and quietly suffers the penalty for their breach. And in order for the resister to make his protest against the action of the law-givers, it is open for him to withdraw his co-operation from the state by disobeying such other laws whose breach does not involve moral turpitude.

Shibuya Hiroshi & Chiba Shin. Living for Jesus and Japan: The Social and Theological Thought of Uchimura Kanzo (pp. 77-78). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co..

Uchimura wrote this text expressing his concerns about the growing militarism in Japan during the Meiji period