The issue at hand is not the burning of a flag, it's the fact that they want to make a law that is going against the very thing that flag is supposed to represent. Frankly, I'm not fond of burning flags, I'd be more willing to burn some of the politicians in effigy, it'd be less open to interpretation as to what it is I'm actually saying (and no, I am not advocating such a thing nor am I saying I would, I'm merely saying that I tend to find flag burning somewhat ineffective).
well, our soldiers have been fighting for freedom, which includes the right to burn your own flag, so make of that what you will.Originally Posted by noname
Yeah your all right, I agree whole heartdly. What does flag burning do anyway, maybe the people that do it, just want to make people like some of us MAD.
You find it to be ironic? Strange, I find it to be reassuring.I find it Ironic, that I defend, I will defend my life for this country some day. The flag is a symbolic symbol of this country, and I defend it, and at the same time people have their "right" to burn it.
There is nothing more despicable than flag-burning. It's an abhorrent practice and the people that burn a flag does not attack a modern America, but they attack her basic premises: freedom, justice, rationality.
That being said, if this passes in Congress it's just another step towards totalitarian American. Christ, the idea scares me.
If this law passes, I may not mind so much when the youth burn the flag, if they are doing it on principle. ...maybe not. It's still disgusting. But if we're allowing it to come to this, what more?
it seems ironic though...
I mean once a flag is worn out and unfit for display aren't you supposed to burn it as a sign of respect.
Secondly, these people supporting this amendment are wearing clothes with the flag on it when clearly the rules for respecting the flag say you cannot put it on clothes, curtains etc.
Thirdly, if someone burns a flag who cares?! I mean if people want to get angry at something, look at the U.S. debt, look at the war casualities, look at the corrupt senators in state legislatures (Tennessee John Ford recently was put into federal custody for threatening a federal witness and accepting bribes while in public office)
I personally don't mind if flag-burning is prohibited. It's a symbolic act of desecration, much like book-burning - including religious book-burning.
I can't recall whether it's expressly illegal to burn the flag in my country, but I recall that people have been arrested for disorderly conduct and whatnot after doing so.
In the end, though, it makes little difference to me whether it's legal or not. I'll still dislike it if it happens, and others will still want to do it as an act of protest.
I disgree that by desecrating the flag, that you oppose everything the flag stands for. I see it as a protest against what it is being done in its name. If abuses of human rights, and the removal of freedoms were being perpetrated in the name of the flag - that is as much of a desecration as the burning of it is.
So what if you burn a book? It's amazing the importance people put on icons. I can't toss a Bible into a fire if I want? And a Quran? Many people have been tossed into the fire for those books, so hell, what if I buy those two books and burn them?
I don't mean I would do that, I am not Christian but I read the Bible and find it very interesting. I am even thinking of getting a Quran, after spending some nights reading medieval arab philosophy one becomes interested in such things. But if someone wants to do it, well, I can't find where the problem is. Same goes for flags. Someone even suggested using violence to defend a flag. What the hell? I can't see anything with hurting a piece of cloth, I do find it with someone hurting someone else. Since when does a piece of cloth- symbolic, but a piece of cloth- deserve more digity than a person?
When it's the American flag, and when that person is lacking in dignity enough to burn the American flag.
It's another one of the legan vs. moral right things. Sure, legally, go ahead. If I find you doing it, I'll kick your ass, but you do have the legal right.
Nanashi-kun: What rules for respecting the flag say it's improper to put it on clothes? American soldiers wear the flag (the correct way, it's not "backwards") on our right shoulders. Who else are you talking about, and how is it against any regulations? (Although, once a Combat Patch is earned, it goes above the flag on the right shoulder, and that ain't right--the flag should be highest, the Combat Patch below.)
Ok, I'll agree to banning flag-burning when the amendment also bans slapping flag magnets on cars. And when they ban stores from flying tattered flags outside in the rain because they are too lazy to replace them, or even take them down in the rain.
I find it far more offensive that people are desecrating the flag by wearing it, which is expressly forbidden by the US Flag Code, than that people are "desecrating" the flag by burning it. I agree with Skogs:except that I see abuses of human rights and the removal of freedoms as more of a desecration than the burning of the flag.I disgree that by desecrating the flag, that you oppose everything the flag stands for. I see it as a protest against what it is being done in its name. If abuses of human rights, and the removal of freedoms were being perpetrated in the name of the flag - that is as much of a desecration as the burning of it is.
Where?
There are regulations on how to wear it, but none that I'm aware of that say we can't wear it.
http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html
The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard.
As, slick, as. Not on. As in, nobody should sew clothes out of the flag, or drape themselves in a flag, etc. etc. It should tip you off that U.S. military wear flags on their uniforms--not as, but on--so it's most likely NOT forbidden.
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