Obeying the Law

Michael Kelly (“The Corruption of Democracy,” Commentary, Feb. 11) informs us that we are required to obey every law, no matter how onerous or odious. Really? Consider the following moral thought experiment. In some states certain sexual acts are legally proscribed, even if the participants are a married couple in their own bedroom with the shades drawn.

What if a friend, living in such a state, were to tell you that she and her husband thoroughly enjoy these acts but never engage in them, because, she says, if we can pick and choose which laws to obey we’re on a slippery slope to anarchy. Would you hope (a) that this exemplary citizen seeks high public office or (b) that this pathetic authoritarian never achieves a position of power?

Perhaps it’s my terminal adolescence, but such thought experiments seem to me instructive, particularly in these times of rampant sanctimonious cant.

DON SYMONS

Santa Barbara

* Kelly says that the president makes liars out of everyone else. Kelly has me wondering. Has the president made a liar out of Kelly?

FRANK S. MORRIS

Westminster