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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Critique of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Version of Natural Law Theory Paradoxically, Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail," initially uses classical natural law theory to defend his actions, but immediately thereafter contradicts a fundamental tenet of this theory and relies on a "weaker" version of natural law. In doing so, King must attempt to formulate a theory which justifies his illegal actions in view of his moral …

…to be unjust, is unfortunate. An interesting question that remains unanswered in King's letter is how he would have reacted to an opposing moral theory that used his arguments. After all, the KKK appears to break the law for the reason that it feels the law is "immoral." It is possible King would have been forced to invoke the idea of "a moral obligation only to uphold laws created by fair processes" in the end.