Sorry - I'm not sure if you were speaking to flag-burning protesters in the last paragraphs above, or are you asking me not to express my political views?
No. He's asking you to think about the repercussions of expressing your political views in such a public manner. Just because you're unhappy about the President and Congress's decision to attack Iraq doesn't necessarily give you the right to further the hostility in other countries. You want to burn a flag? Burn it in the privacy of your own home. Don't do it on the steps of the Capitol building where every anti-American fanatic who sees it is just going to grab onto it as some kind of sign that even Americans hate Americans
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I disagree. Burning the flag is an powerful expression of anger against America. When a flag is burning, the person is directly saying to the American Govt "FUCK YOU!" They are not saying fuck America and they are not saying fuck the Americans who died for America.
And soldiers didnt die for the flag, they died for other Americans and the American way of life which is built on the very same thing that burning the flag represents: FREEDOM. It's a twisted truth but the truth just the same. If you accept your freedom of speech as much as any freedom allowed here in the states, you have to accept that it protects the very ugliest forms of free speech ie white power marches, Hustler magazine, burning of the flag...etc.
And you are entitled to disagree. But what you're failing to realize is that your message is lost because the people who see you "making your statement" are seeing it differently. To you, burning the flag is a gesture towards the government. To me it's a gesture against America. To foreign nations it's a gesture against what THEY see as America: our military.
The flag is the symbol for Americans and the American way of life. So when you say soldiers died for the those things, they died just as much for their symbol. I'm not saying you shouldn't be free to speak your opinion. But keep in mind, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are protected by the First Amendment. Freedom of burning is not. If you want to say fuck you to the American government, do so. Burning the flag is not speech, and it's certainly not "saying" what you think it says.
I don’t know everything that’s going on “over there”, and I likely wouldn’t want to. I don’t agree with everything that’s happened in this campaign: while I can buy some arguments that the undertaking was justified, the execution and follow-through has been appalling. Just MHO. But will I withhold my support from the enlisted ranks who don’t have the luxury of picking their battles? No! They could well be deployed to a new cause celebre tomorrow. So that won’t stop me from applauding and showing support for those who are willing to risk it all if only for a vague notion of “ideals, country, and duty”. How unfair is it that that brave men and women put their lives on the line while I sit on my ass and write insipid stupid shit in my journal? My support is the least I can offer.
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With regards to flag burning, the line: “Nay, while I disagree with what you say, I support your right to say it” might apply here. Personally my own views on flag-burning align with your own. My grandfather was a WWII vet who saved an American
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I just came across this in an article by Professor Donella H. Meadows at Dartouth which aligns nicely with your point.
I suppose every one of us has at some time been furious with our government. The government gives us plenty of good reasons to be furious, from illegal wars to unwarranted infringements of our personal freedoms to an incomprehensible and unjust tax system. As we have recently learned, it ripped off taxpayer dollars at HUD and will be ripping off more to cover the greed of the savings and loans industry. I can understand citizen outrage.
I can't understand, though, why people would express their displeasure by burning a piece of cloth when, in this democratic nation, they have so many more effective actions open to them.
Personally, I think it would be a sad day in America if flag-burning were outlawed/punishable by law (or anything to that extent..although I don't think this is what you meant, just something like.. social punishment, for lack of better word). It is a method of expressing one's views, though an unoriginal and unproductive one. I'd hate to think of how much further it could go--perhaps the government would take it a step further, punishing citizens for other expressing discontent in other forms.
But then again, I suppose that isn't really plausible, and I am reading too much 1984.
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And soldiers didnt die for the flag, they died for other Americans and the American way of life which is built on the very same thing that burning the flag represents: FREEDOM. It's a twisted truth but the truth just the same. If you accept your freedom of speech as much as any freedom allowed here in the states, you have to accept that it protects the very ugliest forms of free speech ie white power marches, Hustler magazine, burning of the flag...etc.
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The flag is the symbol for Americans and the American way of life. So when you say soldiers died for the those things, they died just as much for their symbol. I'm not saying you shouldn't be free to speak your opinion. But keep in mind, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are protected by the First Amendment. Freedom of burning is not. If you want to say fuck you to the American government, do so. Burning the flag is not speech, and it's certainly not "saying" what you think it says.
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* * *
With regards to flag burning, the line: “Nay, while I disagree with what you say, I support your right to say it” might apply here. Personally my own views on flag-burning align with your own. My grandfather was a WWII vet who saved an American ( ... )
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I suppose every one of us has at some time been furious with our government. The government gives us plenty of good reasons to be furious, from illegal wars to unwarranted infringements of our personal freedoms to an incomprehensible and unjust tax system. As we have recently learned, it ripped off taxpayer dollars at HUD and will be ripping off more to cover the greed of the savings and loans industry. I can understand citizen outrage.
I can't understand, though, why people would express their displeasure by burning a piece of cloth when, in this democratic nation, they have so many more effective actions open to them.
http://www.sustainer.org/dhm_archive/search.php?display_article=vn285flaged
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probably in a couple of days!!!
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Personally, I think it would be a sad day in America if flag-burning were outlawed/punishable by law (or anything to that extent..although I don't think this is what you meant, just something like.. social punishment, for lack of better word). It is a method of expressing one's views, though an unoriginal and unproductive one. I'd hate to think of how much further it could go--perhaps the government would take it a step further, punishing citizens for other expressing discontent in other forms.
But then again, I suppose that isn't really plausible, and I am reading too much 1984.
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