If we begin choosing which laws to obey, we open floodgates of anarchy

We read of the death of the philosopher Socrates (469–399 BC) in the history of ancient Greece. The great thinker was sentenced to die by drinking the hemlock, for “harming public piety.”

Scholars are not agreed what “harming public piety” meant. But the custodians of law and order thought it was something bad for society. In truth, the authorities were worried about the philosopher’s growing influence among the youth. And so they put him to death.