I think the most important idea is to remember that there have

Hear the cry of one who bore the weight of conscience against the power of an empire—Edward Snowden, who declared: “I think the most important idea is to remember that there have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal.” These words thunder like prophecy, for they strike at the eternal conflict between the law of man and the law of justice, between statutes written in ink and truths written in the human heart.

The law is fashioned by men, and men are fallible. Kings, parliaments, and congresses alike have forged laws not only to protect but also to oppress, not only to free but also to enslave. What is legal may wear the mask of order, yet still hide the stench of injustice. What is right, however, is deeper than parchment and decree. It is the whisper of conscience, the fire of truth, the voice of the eternal. To mistake legality for righteousness is to confuse the shadow for the flame.

Recall, children of history, the days when in America it was legal to own another human being, to buy and sell souls as if they were cattle. The law gave sanction to chains, whips, and auction blocks. Yet who among us today would dare to call that right? It was not the legality of slavery that ennobled the nation, but the righteous defiance of those who broke unjust laws: the runaway slave who fled north under the cover of night, the abolitionist who harbored him at risk of prison, the preacher who thundered against slavery though his words defied the courts. Their deeds remind us that legality is no measure of justice.

Consider also the civil rights movement, when segregation was the law of the land. Signs that read “Whites Only” were upheld by courts, enforced by police, and sanctified by lawmakers. Yet men and women of courage—Rosa Parks refusing her seat, Martin Luther King Jr. marching without fear—chose what was right over what was legal. They were arrested, beaten, reviled, yet their righteousness broke the chains of unjust laws and awakened the conscience of a nation. Their defiance proved Snowden’s truth: that the law is not the highest measure, but justice is.

And think, too, of those who resisted tyranny abroad. In Nazi Germany, the legal order demanded silence in the face of atrocity, obedience to monstrous decrees. Yet the righteous, from the White Rose students who spread leaflets in Munich to those who hid Jews in their homes, chose what was right though it condemned them in courts of law. Their courage is eternal proof that the measure of goodness is not the gavel but the heart.

Thus, Snowden’s words are not bound to America alone, nor to one age, but to all mankind: that law without justice is tyranny cloaked in parchment. He himself, in revealing the secrets of mass surveillance, placed what he believed was right above what the law permitted. Whether one condemns or praises him, his act echoes an ancient struggle—the call of conscience against the chains of statute.

What then must you learn, O listener? Do not bow blindly to the law, nor despise it outright. Honor the law when it serves justice, but when it strays, let your conscience be your guide. Study history, that you may know when men and women chose righteousness over legality, and be prepared, if your hour comes, to do the same. For though the law can bind your body, it is righteousness that liberates your soul.

In your own life, act with courage. If you see injustice blessed by rules, speak against it. If you witness cruelty hidden beneath legality, refuse to be silent. Begin in small things: defend the outcast, stand for truth in your circle, refuse deceit even when it is permitted. In such ways, you prepare yourself for greater trials. And let this be your guiding star: what is right may cost you dearly, but to betray it for what is merely legal is to lose the very essence of your humanity.