| Burning |
[Jan. 8th, 2007|05:08 pm] |
(I've been on the Net long enough to have learned to keep certain things private. Whenever I talk about someone from my personal life, I'm going to turn that person into a woman named Kim. It's possible that as this LJ progresses, Kim will say a variety of strange things, but that at least gives me the opportunity to share with you some of what's going on in my life without revealing more than I'm comfortable with.)
Yesterday, intending to have a brief dialogue, I mentioned to Kim, "I heard you say something the other day about flag-burning. What's your opinion on that?"
We proceeded to have a five-hour discussion about it. Five hours. I argued the right of American citizens to show their dissent; she argued about the right of military widows not to be traumatized. We kept arguing over the question of: at which point does the number of offended people become high enough for the law to change?
She said that at some point, Americans decided that flashing was offensive enough to be outlawed; burning the flag in protest, she believes, is just as offensive. (Especially since once caught on film, that burning will be played and replayed, whereas one flashing only scalds the eyeballs of an immediate audience and is rarely videotaped and aired.)
Burning the flag in and of itself isn't illegal; it's a proper way to dispose of a dirty/soiled/torn flag. The Supreme Court argued that since burning the flag itself isn't illegal, it's not fair to say that it should be illegal under certain circumstances. Kim says that since having sex in your home is legal, but having sex outside isn't, or cremation is legal but burning dead bodies in your front yard isn't, then we can make a distinction for flag-burning, too.
The Supreme Court says that the flag is a symbol, and hasn't been given its own special privileges. Kim says that since there are already laws about what we can do with it - - it can't touch the ground, it can't be flown horizontally, it can't simply be tossed out in the trash - - why can't we just add another?
I argue right to free speech; she argues that since we outlaw certain offensive things already, just add this to the list and move on.
I say that flag-burning amendments keep being proposed - - wasn't there one just in 2006? - - but are consistently voted down, so apparently we're not ready for that kind of commitment. Kim says that the American people are, especially those in and around the military, so let's get on with it.
I want to get a better feel for what average Americans think, so: what do you think?
And if you're outside the US, what's up with the laws for your flag? |
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