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Originally Posted by onthefence Actually if you had been following the whole thread you would have seen that I posted my Scouts respectfully burning Flags no longer fit to be displayed.
They were being burned out of respect.
we were specifically talking about burning the Flag out of disrespect. |
I did read that. But I also read the part where tadpole claimed he would bash my head in if I burned the flag because I held a different opinion of the meaning of burning it, and I read the part where you agreed with him. This indicated to me that you might support bashing the head in of someone who burned a flag for some reason other than disrespect.
I also read the part where tadpole said that flag burning is against the US Code, which you responded to by quoting a passage which states only that disrespecting the flag is against the code.
Those are what I was responding to; if you believe that it should be permissible to burn the flag if such burning isn't done out of disrespect, then that's one place we agree on. So I will turn my attention to burning the flag out of disrespect.
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Do you not understand that these are all thing that The Flag stands for?
What is it about a flag that would cause men to risk so much for a colorful piece of cloth?" But the value of the flag is not found in the fabric of its make-up. The value of the flag is found in what it represents.
Think of it this way:
You have just gone to the store to buy school supplies. As you walk back to the car a strong gust of wind causes the sheaf of notebook paper you purchased to fly through the air and into the street. Would you risk your life to dash into the street to recover a simple sheet of paper? Of course you wouldn't.
Now imagine that as you walk back to the car you are holding a MILLION DOLLAR winning lottery ticket in your hand. To what extremes would you go to recover IT if the wind blew it into the street? Like the previous example, it is just a sheet of paper. But the million dollar winning ticket means more than paper, it represents something of far greater value.
Since the birth of our Nation, more than ONE MILLION Americans have died defending the freedom our Flag represents.
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The flag is just a piece of fabric. It represents freedom, equality, and happiness only because you believe it to represent those things. In answer to your question, no I would not risk my life to save a notebook, and yes I would risk my life to save a willing lottery ticket. I would do this because I could exchange my lottery ticket for wealth.
Yet using the same comparison, there's no way I'd risk my life to save a flag. It's just a piece of cloth; if it is dirtied or destroyed, no one is harmed, and I've lost nothing more than a piece of cloth. However, I would risk my life to save someone's freedom, equality, and happiness. See, the flag is just a symbol. Lots of people think it represents freedom, equality and happiness. But being a symbol, no freedom, no equality, and no happiness are lost if we allow it to be defiled. It is just a piece of cloth.
When the people of our nation go to war, they do so to defend freedom, equality and happiness. They do
not do so to defend the flag. Because the flag is a symbol, it reminds the soldiers what they're fighting for. But it only reminds them of those things they're fighting for. The flag itself is not what they are fighting for.
So when an individual burns a flag out of disrespect, they aren't burning that which people fought and died for. They're burning a piece of cloth. Lots of people think it represents freedom, equality, and happiness, but freedom equality and happiness will remain completely intact if we allow people to burn flags.
If we wanted to harm the real things that our soldiers fought for, freedom would be a great place to start. And what more common way is there to take away freedom than to deny our citizens the right to protest against the opinion of the majority?
If a person burns a flag out of disrespect for our nation, then perhaps that person does not believe that our nation truly stands for freedom, equality, and happiness. As a free nation, should we not grant our people the freedom to express that belief? If we should give them that freedom, then how is burning the flag an exception?
Or perhaps an individual doesn't believe in freedom, equality, and happiness. In the same fashion, shouldn't we allow that person the freedom to express that belief? And why is flag burning the exception?
If we are going to call ourselves a free nation, we can't only grant people freedom when we like the message they're sending or the principles they're supporting. We must give even those the majority doesn't approve of freedom. Even annoying people have rights. Burning the flag out of disrespect doesn't hurt anyone; it is merely a freedom of an individual to use his property as he sees fit. So why should it be disallowed?