Should it be legal to burn the American flag? I don't believe burning a flag is freedom of speech?

John Tiggity

many people make the argument that burning our flag is a slap in the face to all the veterans and soldiers who have died to ensure our freedom. I think they are missing the point. I believe that outlawing flag burning would be a slap in the face to the soldiers who have died to preserve our freedom.

innumerable soldiers have died in the past to protect our liberties and one of these liberties is the liberty to burn the flag. The Framers of the Constitution would probably see it as encroachment on the liberty they fought so hard to preserve if we outlawed flag burning. Flag burning is a form of speech; it is heavily imbued with a political sentiment of disatisfaction. The man who burns the flag is making a statement that the government is, in his opinion, functioning poorly, and he has the absolue right to make such a statement. To be sure, you or I may not agree with his assessment of our country's functionality, but we would agree, I presume that he has the right to differ with us on this note.

Third World and undeveloped countries would take someone behind the President's office and hang them for doing something such as burning a flag, as these countries do not allow for political dissent. Our country, however, does protect the right to political dissent, and this right is necessary for a healthy functioning Republic. Noone can deny that the person who burns the flag is not expressing political dissent.

Of course, it is offensive to many people, but this is not an adequate reason to outlaw it. Saying gay marriage is perfectly ok offends some people. Should we not allow poeple to express that belief? Saying Jesus Christ wasn't divine offends a lot of people. Should we censor the expression of that opinion too, ad infinitum?

The point is that flag-burning reflects one of our nation's deepest commitments to political dissent. And we have been able to maintain that commitment thru the valiant efforts of our military. They, after all, preserve our freedom so we don't end up becoming the thrid world country that hangs citizens for disagreeing with the government. So, please respect their efforts and allow flag-burning, as offensive as it may be. And please, feel free to try to persuade people that they shouldn't burn flags (you have rights too, right?). but don't try to invoke the coercive power of the state to do so.
P.S. I know, ideologically, the author of this question disagrees with me, and I, to date, have never changed someone's ideologies (it's really hard to do). But I ask that you consider my answer.

sassiest_princess

it's disrespectful, that's why. It's a symbol of our freedom.

kl55000

But even if the Supreme Court says it is illigal, what will you do if you see an Iraki, an Afghan, an Iranian burning your flag ? Sue him ? There is nothing you can do about it.

The questions is why do you people feel the need to burn the US flag ? It is not because they like it because they DO hate America.

Even though it is disrespecful to burn one's country's flag, it is indeed a freedom of speech , just like sayong the president of a country is a ***.

diogenese19348

It is a valid form of free speech as long as you burn your own flag. The case that decided it was interesting in that the guy that burned it stole it from in front of a bank. They could have nailed him for theft and vandalism of property, then thrown the book at him and it would have passed appeals without a problem.

One other little tid-bit: The only way to properly dispose of a damaged American Flag is to - you guessed it - burn it. It is considered desecration just to throw it in the trash.

Be careful how you write that law...

-Dio

BuddyL

Oh, yeah, they got it labeled as "freedom of expression," because somebody pointed out there's really no speech involved! But would the cops stand around and do nothing if you'd take a sheet of cotton fabric, the same size as the flag, tie it to a pole, and burn it in a public place? Of course not. You're creating a nuisance, a fire hazard, disturbing the peace, etc etc... But a US flag? oh, yeah, you have a constitutional right to burn that. What's the friggin' difference? You can't burn a cross, because that's b-a-d and anti-whichever religion complains. But a US flag? Sure thing... Try going to any other country in the world and burn their flag. See how long it takes them to give you the VIP treatment in their prison!

Mahal

It's not freedom of speech, it's freedom of expression.

Since the action doesn't harm anyone, there's no reason for it to be illegal.

No matter how reprehensible it may seem, freedom of expression is one of the things that makes our country great. We're big enough to tolerate idiots and rank traitors as long as they've not harmed another person.

SARcasm,RN

burning the flag is a waste, hey look at me im burning a piece of cloth. sure it symbolizes a great nation, but i see it as a cowardly act. if ya wanna stand up, great, but hey why not go beeiotch slap your senator instead of wasting your time burning a flag, that would make more of a statement.

Aaron

This is one of those non-issues that politicians use to polarize elections. By speaking out against a flag burning ban you are open to accusations of being a bad person or American. The issues we should be focused on are things that actually effect us. Health care. Education. Energy policy. Iran as a rising threat. Urban blight. Instead we get the death penalty, gay marriage, and flag burning. WHO CARES IF SOMEONE BURNS A FLAG?!?!?

Someone who burns a flag is an idiot and a schmuck. I wouldn't associate with someone who did that. HOWEVER...does it really effect my day to day life if someone is a schmuck and burns a flag? I DON'T REALLY CARE. There are all kinds of idiots out there. I can't be bothered to care about legislation to prevent every stupid thing people can do.

The death penalty is a divisive issue...but the truth is that it effects VERY few people. Should we debate it? Sure. Should it be in debates as much as education policy? NO!

Gay marriage is another one. The entire issue is about economic benefits. That's the real opposition. How many people does it really effect if two men marry? The biggest impact is economic. The economic effect of gay marriage just doesn't strike me as being as important as billions of dollars in Tax cuts while we increase war time spending. That concerns me.

It's classic bate and switch debate. One hand shows you gay marriage while the other hides education cuts. It's DIFFICULT to discuss, debate, and solve issues like immigration. It's a lot easier to drum up religious fervor about gays.

I would also rather risk living in a society with an idiot flag burner then one that begins to legislate behavior that clearly is protest. Stupid protest? Sure. But protest. This country survived 9/11 despite having its weakest leadership in modern history. I think it can survive a few morons who burn flags.

darkemoregan

It's a valid form of free speech. The flag means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. You may see hope in it, while the guy down the street sees it as a symbol of a system that is broken and failed. Flags are symbols, and symbols can convey lots of different meanings. Look at the swastika. It comes from the sanskrit, and means "to be good". It's one of the oldest symbols in the world and was in wide use. Even today, it's a holy symbol in buddhism and hinduism. But the nazi's usurped the symbol to such an extent that very few people know it's original meaning.

I may not like flag burning, but I don't think it should be a crime.

Jamie R

They should just make it law to make all American flags out of inflammable material. Problem solved.

It hurts me to see our flag burned.

Darrin J

Saying someone can't burn a flag IS most certainly an infringement on civil rights. Would be similar to saying that a girl can't burn pictures of her ex-boyfriend when he bones her sister.

Instead we should all just make burning a flag a huge pain in the butt to even consider, then people won't want to... kinda like smoking, right?

jack w

I agree with you but the Court doesn't agree with us.

ericscribener

Flag burning is the type of thing that happens when responsibility does not accompany freedom. The same as the whole "Christmas" mess.

zzHoUnDzz

No Way

lisaclara

Even free speech has it's limitations! When the whole free speech thing was written - there were no issues in our country like we have today with people who live hear, enjoy our freedoms, have good jobs and take advantage of all the country has to offer while burning the flag - anyone who would burn the flag should move to a third world country and enjoy the poverty! They would have even more reason to burn the flag of many other countries. It's like spitting on the faces of those who gave their lives for our freedoms. It's just unblieveable what we allow and call "freedom of speech." So, we can't mix religion and school - but we can burn the flag??? all based on the same principle. Early on they used the bible in our schools for a textbook for crying in the sink. School prayer was removed in 1960 separation of church and state - but what about the freedom of speech then?

Ryan's mom

I thought it was hilarous when they got a picture of the Middle Eastern man that was burning our flag, and the idiot caught himself on Fire!!! I have had 3 generations of my family in the Military for different wars and if I ever saw someone trying to burn the flag I would kick their sorry butts. If they cannot respect our veterans for what they went through for our country they need to move out of the USA!!!

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: