Though The Daily Princetonian’s website has seen a few redesigns and now sports has a Twitter account, the ‘Prince’ is still an entirely traditional and print focused organization. Improving web presence can’t be a side project — the ‘Prince’ needs to see itself as a news organization rather than a newspaper one.
So when is civil disobedience justified? “One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty,” said King. “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.”
It is one thing, for example, to say that if we are unsure of the moral status of animals and can subsist without eating them it makes sense to abstain. To say, however, that “suffering is the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration,” making infants the equals of many animals, is to assert a priori that every other characteristic is not worth considering.
I am skeptical that there is much that can be said universally about sexual ethics. Many claim that sex has the natural purpose of procreation, and thus all non-procreative sex is unacceptable. Yet cancer, rape and war certainly seem more natural parts of the human experience than marriage for love or disease control, if we look to history.
The desire to fill one’s free time fighting global ills is a laudable goal. Yet if one cares about doing important work well, there are compelling reasons to avoid many of these groups.
