Originally Posted by Phage

Rules are of course a form of communication stating what the expected code of conduct is, and generally what the punishment would be for deviating from that code. Any number of arguments can be made about what makes a good rule (a seductive path that MrSelfDestruct could not resist) but there is also an inherent value to rules just because they exist. Allow me to explain why.

To make an analogy lets look at a home game of soccer in an open field. The two teams of children stake out the edges of the play area and start the game. At some point one of the players kicks the ball out of bounds, and then someone questions the worth of the boundaries. The field is large enough that there is plenty of room to continue playing outside the current bounds; expanding them to cover the entire field would be best. All the children agree that it would be best that way, but the fact remains that when the ball was kicked the bounds were crossed.

When the child kicked the ball over the bounds he was breaking an arbitrary rule; it did not really matter where they put the boundaries. However it is not allowable to simply run around breaking rules just because they are bad rules. If you agree to play by the rules then regardless of the worth of the rule you have a responsibility to follow them.