Flag burning?

Question

How do you feel about flag burning? I think its awful and disrespectful to our country and the people that died for it but I don't think it should be illegal to burn a flag.

I know a lot of people say "the USA flag is like the statue of liberty and other monuments". But really it isn't, even though they may symbolize the same thing they are different.
Those monuments are government propert. Very different from a flag that you buy (YOU OWN). If you buy a peice of fabric you should be able to burn it or do whatever you want.

Although flag burning is awful, people should have the right to do it.

what do you think

Answer 1

i think it should be illegal

Answer 2

I would never burn a flag, and I'd think poorly of anyone who did. I think poorly of anyone who demeans my beloved country and what it stands for.

For that reason, I think even more poorly of anyone who tries to ban flag burning. Such a law would demean our country and the freedoms it stands for so much more than an idiot burning a flag ever could.

This is the same type of thinking that causes us to do away with many basic liberties in a fight against terrorists, whom we say hate us for our freedoms. If that is true, then why are we giving them what they want by giving up our freedoms unnecessarily?

I'm not talking about legitimate cases, such as being searched before boarding a plane or tracked if there is evidence we ARE terrorists. I'm talking about things like burning flags, checking a book out of the library, being tracked with no evidence against you other than the administration's "trust me" hunch, or criticizing the president.

Don't think we've given up the right to criticize the president? Take a look around. If you express disapproval, or in some recent cases, simply report honestly what the administration is doing without passing judgment on it, you "just made it harder to win the war against terror."

I'm with George Carlin on this one. The flag is a symbol, and I'll leave its protection to the symbol-minded.

There's also the whole other issue of how you enforce such a decree. If it's illegal to deface a flag, what counts? Does drawing a flag on a piece of paper and buring that paper count? What if it has only 10 stripes and 30 stars? What if your kid is wearing a shirt that has a picture of a flag and he falls off the slide and rips the shirt? Are you an enemy combatant?

Sorry for the long, ranty answer. Wish me well in my upcoming stay at Guantanamo Bay.

Answer 3

Burning a flag is more than just burning a piece of fabric, you owning the flag stands for the American way of life and the fact that you even have the opportunity to buy a flag or have a lighter to burn it is what that flag stands for. If you burn a flag in spite towards America I think you should be prosecuted. U.S.A.
Love It Or Leave It!!!!

Answer 4

Flag burning should be protected speech under the First Amendment. The more power we give our government to put us in chains, the dumber we look.

Most of the conservative idiots that back the amendment to make flag burning illegal probably don't even realize that the Bill of Rights were intended to protect the people from the government, and that one of the hallmarks of political conservatism is to limit the power of the government.

Answer 5

A clarification ... nobody died for the *flag*. People have died for the *country* (but I can see that may be what you meant).

I think it's a childish, moronic, and hateful thing to do ... the equivalent of spitting on someone and expecting that that will persuade them that your position is correct. (I.e., it has precisely the opposite effect, and just makes you look like an a**hole).

But I'm with you, we can't make laws against people expressing themselves in moronic ways. I am vehemently opposed to amending the Constitution to make flag burning a U.S. flag a unique exception to free speech.

The Constitution is far more important than the flag.

Answer 6

First amendment rights. Even though I don't like it, it's part of the bad that comes with a whole lot of good.

What is freedom? Being allowed to burn an American flag in front of the White House. That's big time freedom.

Answer 7

I am teaching my daughter the Pledge of Allegiance right now. I am teaching her to respect it as well, even though she is only three. It's a symbol that men and women have fought and died for. Maybe my daughter will someday fight for it. I would never burn it. I would hope that no one would.

But part of freedom is allowing people to speak their minds. I don't have to like what they say or the way they say it.

I don't think much of any one who would burn the flag. But they can't destroy what that flag stands for.

Answer 8

China, Cuba, and Iran are the only three countries that ban flag burning. I don't want to join them.

The right to burn the flag is a powerful freedom and symbolizes the right of the individual to question and disagree with their government.

The day we ban flag burning is the day everything the American flag stands for dies.

Answer 9

As long as you own the flag and you do it safely, there is nothing wrong with burning the flag. On the other hand, I think there are more constructive ways of expressing your point of view. Flag burning tends to make people angry and angry people don't like to listen to other people's points of view, so what do you really gain by it?

Answer 10

To all the people complaining that flag burning should be allowed under the 1st Amendment; it happened in 1989 via the US Supreme Court. Get over yourselves already.

Answer 11

I agree with you. It is disrespectful, but I think the only other countries where it's illegal to burn flags are the damn Communist ones, dictatorships. What happened to our democracy? I say they should stop worrying about crap like that, pretending to do stuff, and actually make an important, significant law.