Burn, baby, burn
Writing by treason on Thursday, 23 of June , 2005 at 7:42 pm
I’m trying to figure out where I stand on flag burning these days. Like hair, a flag has symbolism. I admit that I’m partial to the American flag, and I think it’s a beautiful design. You know how some companies have cheap looking logos? Well, without offending anyone in particular, some countries have some pretty mediocre flags. Ours looks expensive. It’s a tasteful flag and every star and stripe has meaning.
Should we have an amendment to our Constitution that bans the burning of our flag? Tough one. I used to be for that. Now I prefer not to tamper with the Constitution. It’s like drugs. Do some people not use drugs because they’re illegal? And if they were suddenly legal, would those people run down to the neighborhood where I work and buy crack?
Would banning flag burning discourage it? Or would burning a flag take on even more significance because burning is banned? Should we not ban it and see how many want to desecrate it? Should we legalize drugs and see how many new heroin addicts we create?
I think if you’re going to do drugs, you’re going to do them whether or not they’re legal. Same with flag burning. I’m tempted to allow people that right. I, personally, don’t like to see graves, churches, or synagogues desecrated, and I feel ill when I see my flag on fire. But it’s important that we’re allowed to have a feeling about it, one way or the other. The flag means freedom. Shouldn’t we have the freedom to destroy it?
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Comment by Louise, the conservative Catholic
Made Wednesday, 29 of June , 2005 at 2:01 pm
I have a comment about the topic. Like you, several years ago I thought there should be a flag burning amendment, but since then I have changed my mind. Burning the flag is an action designed to provoke a reaction–sort of like yelling "fire!" in a theater when there isn’t a fire. If you do such a thing, you shouldn’t be surprised to discover consequences from those who ran at the cry. You’ll also probably face charges of some kind of false alarm. This is a proper response. The same with burning a flag. If one does so, you just might get angry people who beat you up. They shouldn’t beat you up, but you shouldn’t be surprised at the reaction. They deserve the consequences, but if you are going to make inflammatory speeches (flag burning is free speech,) you shouldn’t be shocked at your success. There are already laws against beating people up, which should be enforced in such a case, but if you are called names, etc., remember the other people are exercising THEIR right to free speech, too. Free speech doesn’t necessarily mean nice speech or only speech you agree with.
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