Hammurabi's Code

Recently in Humanities, my class discussed "Hammurabi's Code," which was his version of laws. I think that these laws were unfair and unjust, because he made laws that applied no matter who was at fault. For example, if a son struck his father, one of his hands had to be cut off. This rule would apply even if the father should have been struck by the son for the boy's safety or others'. I think that there should be rules, but ones that are flexible so that only the guilty party would be prosecuted. but I think that it was wise for Hammurabi to enforce some-kind of laws that could be protective to the citizens of his city-state (Babylon).

I think that other civilizations have laws because the government wants to protect the people, the land, the animals, the culture, the religion, and any other thing that were unique to the region. Even thought they might momentarily cause trouble and hardships for the citizens, they would protect other citizens and other things that the government wishes to protect. That is why there are laws about how many animals can be hunted or caught a season, or why there are traffic rules. They protect the region in which the people live. Even a bad ruler (government) is better than no ruler (government) at all. And if you obey the laws, then you have nothing to fear from the government. Only if you disobey the laws do you have to worry. Laws are beneficial for the protection of the civilization(s).