Weird dreams about breaking the law?
Have you ever had a dream in which you broke the law? They're really freaky. Last night I had a dream where there was this office enclosed by a giant glass wall (those glass blocks like you see on some old buildings). Anyhow, I knew I needed to get a set of keys that were inside of that office, but the door was locked. So, I impulsively decided to kick at the wall, hoping I could just break a small enough hole in the glass so I could retrieve my keys. Instead, when I kicked at it, the WHOLE glass wall shattered into a million pieces. Instinctively, I ran all the way home and sat there petrified that the police would figure out who did it. I wondered if anyone had seen me, if my fingerprints were on anything, if the thing was taped, etc. The next day in my dream, my dad starts telling me about how someone vandalized this particular office, and about how they already caught the perpetrator. So I asked who did it, and he showed my the newspaper with a picture of a perfectly innocent man in handcuffs. Then, I woke up. That dream really shook me, as I never considered myself the type to break the law. And I felt like I had no control over having committed the crime. I try not to consider myself that impulsive of a person. The worry and guilt I felt in that dream were exactly like real feelings of worry and guilt. I immediately tried to recall all the details, because I wondered if there might be some symbolism in this dream. Have any of you had dreams like this before? What do you think it all means?
Can you break the law of gravity ?
No, you can introduce enough energy to temporarily overcome it.
Is it ALWAYS wrong to break ANY law?
If the law compels you to do somethng immoral, it is not only your right but your duty to break the law. One example of this was the requirement of the Nazi government that everyone turn Jews over to the Nazis. Some people hid Jews in their homes in order to help save them from Nazi torture or death. They did this at their own peril, they could have been sent to prison or even executed for doing so.
Is it okay to break the law if the law is unjust?
The form of this question assumes that "unjust" is an absolute value which everyone agrees upon. In reality everyone has his own opinion about the justness of any law. Systems of goverment based upon democracy or democratically-elected representatives attempt to aggragate the opinions of the entire population. It's a terrible system, but not quite as terrible as all of the known alternatives. It's inevitable that anyone in a democratic society will eventually find himself opposed to the majority on some issue. At that point he must ask himself whether he values democracy enough to submit to the will of the majority by obeying the law while continuing to advocate against it. The alternative is to rebel against the democracy by intentionally breaking the laws, but doing so means giving up the protections that democracy provides. The people of that democracy may imprison or even execute the person who demonstrates that he doesn't respect democracy enough to follow its laws. The people in Northern states who operated the underground railroad decided they held their principles against slavery in higher regard than they held the laws requiring them to return slaves to their owners. The man I recently arrested for having sex with a six year old boy made a similar decision when weighing his own principles against the will of the majority. Whether these two kinds of rebellion against the rules set forth by democratically-elected representatives are "ok" (as the question phrases it) is a matter of individual opinion. The fact that most of us would agree that one act of rebellion was noble while the other one was evil is of no consequence to someone who would place his own principles over those of democracy in the first place.
Is breaking the law ever morally justified???
Yes, a good example are those in Europe who hid the Jews from the Nazis. It was against the law and they faced death themselves if caught, but they did the morally right thing. Laws are created by men and therefore can be corrupt.
Is breaking the law unethical and/or immoral?
Actually all those things you listed would be unethical. Unethical is - not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices" that's out of the dictionary. So what you asked would mean it was unethical as it means they are not conforming to the standard and social practices of this country. Now, immoral is - violating moral principles; not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social ethics. Morality is based upon self and some common social beliefs. Morality is far more about what you believe. If you believe those items to be moral, and going against the laws of your society, then yes, they coudl be seen as immoral. The city may fine you if you do not plant the treets as the city requested.