Should people have the right to burn the American flag?
Burning the flag may seem to many as an exercise in free speech but is it necessary? Why do people even burn the flag in the first place and what do they gain by doing so?
I don't think that burning the American flag is necessary. What is accomplished by this? If it is a statement against the government, why don't you burn a model of the capital building or hold a protest? You could even write a letter to a congressman or woman. If you just don't like America you are welcome to leave. No one will keep you here if you don't want to be here.
Do people feel that by burning the flag, they are powerful or have stood up to the government in some way? All they really have done, as far as I'm concerned, is angered loyal Americans and made a spectacle in such a way that their true message is lost.
I don't see why there is a need to burn the American flag or why people do it.
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Personally, I'd stomp on anyone who burned the American flag, especially on U.S. soil; most of the clueless hippies who do this kind of thing are too ignorant to realize that they directly benefit from uniquely American prosperities.
That being said, I don't support bringing legal action against flag-burners. I'd rather they lifted legal action against people who retaliated against flag burners. For example, if I see someone burning the U.S. flag, and I decide to break three of their joints and kick out their teeth, it would be nice to know that Uncle Sam had my back. ;)
Why would someone do that and live here?
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tiffany-southall
Tiffany Southall signing out by keeping you up-to-date.
I personally think that flag burning is rediculous. As you said, why is it necesary? Well, it isn't, but then again people say and do lots of unnecessary things. I think that burning the flag should be protected as free speech- which is what it is.
are there not limits to free speech? how much freedom should someone be granted and where do we draw the line?
~Jax
"Everyone has the right to their own opinion, I just prefer mine."
Some forms of speech are not protected and shouldn't be- false advertising, slander, etc. Forms of speech that can actually hurt people. Flag Burning may offend some people, but your saying that it should be illegal offends me. Should that be against the law? Of course not. When someone is burning a flag, that person is saying something. They are expressing their beleifs. It may not be the most intellegent way to say what you think, but that shouldn't make it against the law.
It is my opinion that outlawing flag burning would be a greater disrespect to the flag than burning it. The flag is seen by most as a symbol of freedom. What kind of symbol of freedom cannot be upheld by the limitation of freedoms.
I support a person's right to burn the flag even though I would not do so myself. I think it is the least effective type of protest. Once one starts burning the flag, no one hears the message, they are too outraged that the flag was burned. Seems counterproductive to me.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of the sun fall upon your home."
If I was to burn the flag that's far more patriotic than if you were to pass laws against it. It's anti-American to create any law that limits anyone from doing something that doesn't violate someone else's rights.
If you want flag burning to be illegal I suggest you move to a dictatorship and leave the United States to the REAL Americans.
-Tim
"It costs nothing to be honest, loyal, and true." -Avett Bros.
I would just like to point out that at no point in time did I ever say that burning the flag should be illegal. I think that burning the flag is offensive and unnecessary but should not be illegal. In my other reply I was simply wondering where free speech ends.
~Jax
"Everyone has the right to their own opinion, I just prefer mine."
Understood. I was in a way replying to your post and all the other comments beneath it.
The problem with finding offense in something is that it's all because you CHOOSE to find something offensive. I really feel the only time anyone should ever be offended is if someone is actually trying to be insulting. For example, in a culture where "thumbs up" is considered a rude gesture, should they be just as offended by a foreigner doing it as a local?
As far as free speech, it should just be like every other law: entirely free until it infringes on someone's rights. Flag burning infringes upon no one's rights, so it should remain free. As mentioned before slander and false advertisement are types of speech which would be beyond the line of "free speech" and into the realm of infringing upon someone.
-Tim
"It costs nothing to be honest, loyal, and true." -Avett Bros.
I completely support a person's right to burn the flag AND I would burn a flag myself. I have never done it though. A person should not have heir right to protest limited because it offends people who feel they are the real patriots. I don't think that the American flag, or any flag, should be held in such high regard. The symbol is not the thing itself. I do think it is a good way to protest the government. Afterall, the gov't controls this country. I think flag burning does off set some people, but only people who care more about being "patriotic" than free speech. To me, banning flag burning would be unpatriotic.
Since the flag is a symbol of the American government, I would say that burning the flag is the equivalent of advocating the violent overthrow of that government.
Hang 'em for treason.
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"Lower taxes, dead terrorists, and secure borders" -The unofficial Republican Motto
That's a rather big jump to make. Under that same logic, speaking against the government would also be treasonous.
"Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you." - Kahlil Gibran
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." Isaac Asimov
"Hang 'em for treason."
A little bit extreme I think,for burning the flag.
"Burning the American flag?! You die now *hang*" O.o
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/npsm18
I hardly think that burning the flag is an attempt to overthrow the government. Besides, we have free-speech, which is designed to protect speech that most people won't like, including burning the flag.
~C
Visit my blog: www.progressiveu.org/blog/mvenus929
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...that makes it a perfectly legitimate component of speech intended to criticise the government and its policies. Turning to the relevant Supreme Court decision, Texas v. Johnson (1989)...
"Recognizing that the right to differ is the centerpiece of our First Amendment freedoms," the court explained, "a government cannot mandate by fiat a feeling of unity in its citizens. Therefore, that very same government cannot carve out a symbol of unity and prescribe a set of approved messages to be associated with that symbol when it cannot mandate the status or feeling the symbol purports to represent."...If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable...We have not recognized an exception to this principle even where our flag has been involved.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/texas.html
percivale
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.