The usual argument against it is that it would violate freedom of speech, but IMHO it goes much deeper than that. Burning is the time-honored way of respectfully destroying a soiled or tattered flag (ask any Boy Scout), so the enforcement of this law would require a judgement of what the person was thinking when the act was performed. George Orwell coined the term "thoughtcrime" to describe this, and it was one of the most terrifying aspects of the totalitarian govenment in his famous novel 1984 (a book that should be required reading for all Americans). If we ever get to the point where we can be punished for even THINKING we disapprove of our government, we will have lost everything our forefathers fought to secure for us, and the flag will no longer have any meaning.
The flag is a symbol of our freedom, but the Constitution IS our freedom. Which would you rather preserve?
2006-07-16 07:16:13 · 11 answers · asked by ConcernedCitizen 7 in Politics & Government ➔ Government
Can someone tell me how to open this question up to a vote for the best answer? Since the question is about freedom of speech and freedom of thought, it would seem hypocritical to pick the best answer myself.
2006-07-16 08:01:34 · update #1
In retrospect, maybe I put the wrong question in the heading. The question I'd really like to see your answers to is the one at the end of my original details: "Which would you rather protect, the flag or the Constitution?"
2006-07-16 08:22:43 · update #2
My dear friend, a country is only as good as its citizens are. America rose to the top because of its citizens, but as history has always shown us, once someone gets to the top, they forget how they got there, become complacent and conceited and eventually contradict every single thing that helped them get there.
Time and our own natures are like downward escalators. If you want to get to the top you need to run against the escalator and beat it to the top. But once you are at the top, you must still keep running in order to stay at the top. If you think that now you are at the top, you may as well stop running, then the escalator will bring you down pretty quickly. Most people forget the running part once they get to the top and soon discover themselves at the bottom again.
The things that made America a great nation once: free speech, free thought, dedication to science and technology seem to be turned backwards one by one. And no one seems to see that. I can perhaps offer a reason why that is so.
The people who first founded America were immigrants mostly... they left their own native countries and traveled to a new land to set up a better place. The new country, the US, was not 'motherland' to them. It existed more in their values and in their ideals and beliefs than it did as a regular landmass with borders. When they thought of USA they thought of the place which they created: the values mattered more to them than did the piece of land itself. If those same people had migrated to another part of the world, they would have created the United States there. Those people WERE the United States.
However a few generations have passed since and the people who populate this country now were born here. To them the US is not those values, it is just a piece of land with borders. Ask most people what is the United States and see what they say.
It is like the definition of home: some people think the house they own on a plot of land is their home... Some people think home is a concept: a place where their loved ones stay and where they can be free and at peace. The first group will be homeless if their house is destroyed, the second group will create a home no matter where they go.
For the founding fathers the United States was a concept: any place with a certain set of values (most notably: liberty, equality, fraternity) could be the United States, regardless of the geographical location. For most of the current generation, the United States is a geographical entity. Obviously, the values you speak of have taken a back seat now.
2006-07-16 08:09:53 · answer #1 · answered by The_Dark_Knight 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think the actual words went along the line of desecrating the flag not necessarily burning it. In any case, they are trying to define a fine line between freedom of speech and patriotism which is always dangerous. That has always been the job of the judicial system not congress to interpret the law.
2006-07-16 07:23:22 · answer #2 · answered by no1special 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the right of burning the flag should be protected at all costs. I'd personally be pretty scared if flag burning was illegal, because if that goes, then why not make it illegal to protest in front of the White-house? or protest at all? Without flag burning, America is no longer the land of the free.
2006-07-16 07:32:07 · answer #3 · answered by JOe s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thanks for pointing that out. I think all this flag-burning stuff is nonsense but hadn't thought of it quite this far. I guess I'm on overload from worrying about all the other insanity that's going on.
I agree, 1984 should still be required reading in school as well as Brave New World but now we 'leave no child behind' instead of teaching them to think.
2006-07-16 07:25:15 · answer #4 · answered by Daphne 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am also against the flag burning amendment, I think it is too much intrusion by the government into its citizenry. Plus in the hands of activist judges, this could be used to prosecute people doing the right thing as you have said.
2006-07-16 07:24:07 · answer #5 · answered by JFra472449 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with you. Also, the amendment is very poorly worded. It doesn't allow "desecration" of a flag....so, if you wanted to get really technical, if a baby is wearing a t-shirt with a flag on it and spit up on it, then the baby would be violating the Constitution...that's pretty stupid if you ask me.
2006-07-16 07:21:11 · answer #6 · answered by Princess 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is not time honored!
it started in the 1960's when a court ruled that it was a freedom of speech issue!
I say Burn the ones that desecrate our flag!
2006-07-16 07:21:46 · answer #7 · answered by Pobept 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what a country and respect for it flag i see nothing wrong with it .there should be a law against burning the leader of the free world flag
2006-07-16 07:20:03 · answer #8 · answered by idontkno 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, that's all nice and good, but you know what it means to republicans? It was an excuse to try and sneak in extraneous things like homosexuality and marriage issues, along with the ammendment.
That way, if anyone voted no, they'd risk being called "unpatriotic".
Politics is fun yeah?
2006-07-16 07:20:10 · answer #9 · answered by ymingy@sbcglobal.net 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My fervent hope is that any jerk who wants to desecrate our American flag should only spill a little gasoline on himself while doing it.
2006-07-16 07:20:48 · answer #10 · answered by senior citizen 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋