Learning to Navigate through the Four Legal Systems of Life

There are four legal systems to pay attention to throughout our lives. 1.Moral law, 2.government law, 3.social etiquette law, and 4.the law of the jungle. Moral law is usually governed by a person or community religious code. Governmental law is enforced by the legal authorities. Your friends ( or lack of) will let you know if you are violating social etiquette laws, and the law of the jungle, well, physical science will let let you know if your bike or that taxi really truly had the right of way.

There is often overlap between these four. A murder may violate all four at once. Although depending on who you kill that murder may only violate two or three of the systems.

Addressing a law to the wrong system may also get you in trouble. A smile and polite word may not help much when trying to negotiate a rogue state to give up its nuclear program but no one wants armed gunmen making sure that people don’t cut in line at the hamburger place. Soft power of social etiquette law is probably enough for that.

The most common error these days seems to be misunderstanding of the type of legal system most appropriate for a given situation.

My religious conviction need not be the same as the best ideas for a secular legal system. Conversely my secular legal system should not be the sole criteria I use for my faith or even the social etiquette rules of my community.

Things do get dicey when one system’s obligations are in clear violation of another system’s prohibitions. I have no clear answer about what to do when that happens other than to say that it’s worth noting and navigating carefully. Ask your rabbi, lawyer, pals, and doctor.