Day 1767: Unlawful

What does “unlawful” mean to you?

Here‘s what it means to Merriam-Webster:

Definition of unlawful

1 :not lawful :illegal
2 :not morally right or conventional
— unlawfully \ˌən-ˈlȯ-f(ə-)lē\ adverb
— unlawfulness  \ˌən-ˈlȯ-fəl-nəs\ noun

First Known Use: 14th century

So now we know that unlawful means “not lawful.” Is that helpful or not helpful?

Also, is morally right really equivalent to conventional? Personally, I strive to be morally right but rarely strive to be conventional.

I also wonder what “unlawful” meant in the 14th century and how the meaning has changed over time.

These days, when I read the news (which is still lawful, as far as I know), I see many stories about people in power being unlawful, which is awful (“unlawful” minus the first three letters).

Is this photo unlawful, lawful, or awful?

What about this one?

“MKM” are the initials of my boyfriend Michael.  If I had written that on a wall, would that have been unlawful? How about taking a picture of it, like I did yesterday?

Here‘s Unlawful singing “You’re Not Alone.”*

I’m glad it’s not unlawful to sing or say “You’re Not Alone,” because that’s a very important message of group therapy (which I practice lawfully in Boston).

Here and now, it’s not unlawful to

• blog,
• leave comments, and
• express gratitude to all who helped me create this”unlawful” post and to you — of course! — for lawfully reading it.

_______________________________________________________–

* Perhaps it was unlawful to use that video of Unlawful, because sinceI published this post,  that video has disappeared.