Valsts, sirdsapziņa un civilās nepakļaušanas

Nesen runājām par liberālas, plurālistiskas un sekulāras sabiedrības pamatiem, un protams, uzreiz rodas jautājums: valstij ir jāīsteno kaut kādā minimālā kārtībā, bet dažreiz rodas konflikts ar indivīdiem, kuru vērtības tiek aizskartās. Kā risināt šādus konfliktus? Cik tālu valsts drīkst iet, lai ieviestu nepieciešamo kārtību mierīgai kopdzīvei? Cik tālu indivīds var iet, lai īstenotu savas vērtības? Kad ir pieļaujams, ka valsts izmanto varu? Kad ir pieļaujams, ka pilsonis nepakļaujas likumiem? Šis temats ir ļoti aktuāls, un nevēlos izvairīties no aktuāliem jautājumiem, bet tomēr iesaku uzsākt diskusiju ar piemēru no literatūras: Sofokla luga "Antigone".

Antigones pilsētā Thebēs ir noticis pilsoņu karš, kurā viens no viņas brāļiem, Polyneices, ir uzbrucis pilsētu ar sveša karaspēka palīdzību un nomiris. Pēc kara, karalis Creon aizliedz apglabāt Polyneica līķi, viņu uzskatīdams kā nodevējs, kas vairs nepieder pilētai. Bet Antigone uzskata, ka Dieva likums pavēl visus mirušos apglabāt, jo vairāk ģimeņu locekļus.

Antigones lugas sākumā tā skaidro savu situāciju savai māsai Ismenei:

I will not urge thee,-no nor, if thou yet shouldst have the mind, wouldst thou be welcome as a worker with me. Nay, be what thou wilt; but I will bury him: well for me to die in doing that. I shall rest, a loved one with him whom I have loved, sinless in my crime; for I owe a longer allegiance to the dead than to the living: in that world I shall abide for ever. But if thou wilt, be guilty of dishonouring laws which the gods have stablished in honour.

Creona uzskatu var redzēt viņa pirmajā uzrunā:

No man can be fully known, in soul and spirit and mind, until he hath been seen versed in rule and law-giving. For if any, being supreme guide of the State, cleaves not to the best counsels, but, through some fear, keeps his lips locked, I hold, and have ever held, him most base; and if any makes a friend of more account than his fatherland, that man hath no place in my regard. For I-be Zeus my witness, who sees all things always-would not be silent if I saw ruin, instead of safety, coming to the citizens; nor would I ever deem the country's foe a friend to myself; remembering this, that our country is the ship that bears us safe, and that only while she prospers in our voyage can we make true friends.

Antigone argumentē par augstāku likumu atbildot Creonam, kad viņa tiek apsūdzēta par karaļa likumam nepakļaušanos:

Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that edict; not such are the laws set among men by the justice who dwells with the gods below; nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force, that a mortal could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes of heaven. For their life is not of to-day or yesterday, but from all time, and no man knows when they were first put forth.

Not through dread of any human pride could I answer to the gods for breaking these. Die I must,-I knew that well (how should I not?)-even without thy edicts. But if I am to die before my time, I count that a gain: for when any one lives, as I do, compassed about with evils, can such an one find aught but gain in death?

So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief; but if I had suffered my mother's son to lie in death an unburied corpse, that would have grieved me; for this, I am not grieved. And if my present deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly.

Traģēdija izriet no viņu konflikta, bet arī no abu lepnības (hybris).