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EmeraldShark OP wrote

If you're only obeying laws you agree with, then why pretend to respect the law at all.

In chess, there are things that grand champions do that don't make immediate sense, but their moves, every move, is very potent. In fact, it would be very difficult for an experienced player to play bad moves since they have trained their mind in such a way to not be defeated. So I think that if you disagree with an expert of revolution, then it may not be the quote that is wrong, but the line of thinking.
MLK did not say that quote for people who already disrespect the law, he said that quote for people who are always obedient;

"Never forget everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - MLK

MLK was very aware of the evils that law can bring, and surely asked himself your question at some time, and what worked for him was that he was morally destabilizing people who trust/believe in the system. But he did say why we should have laws;

"It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless." - MLK
"It may be that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important." - MLK

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