Should flag burning be protected speech

[vegas giants]

Then would setting your house or car on fire also be considered free speech? Or perhaps a government building or vehicle?
What does it symbolize? Hate?

You can set your house or car on fire if you dont pose a danger to the public. Have at it

 

[NoC_T]

It should be punishable by death. Nothing less than death.

And that one death should precipitate a great and horrific wave that engulfs the country in an orgy of death.

 

[Ikari]

What sort of freedom hating nutjob would say that it shouldn't be protected speech?

 

[Vadinho]

Of course. Opposition to flag-burning is moon-faced, gleeful pig-ignorance of this country and what this country is about. Mark Twain had it right over 100 years ago.

"You see my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office-holders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death. To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags -- that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it. I was from Connecticut, whose Constitution declares "that all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit; and that they have at all times an undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their form of government in such a manner as they may think expedient."
-Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

I read that book a long time ago, maybe in high school. I remember loving it and laughing my way through it. I might have to find it and reread it.

 

[MSgt]

Flag burning is decrepit, pathetic, and ignorant. But I don't see how banning the practice doesn't violate the idea of free speech and private property.

Besides, people will start burning the flag just to protest the banning of burning the flag. Because,ultimately, Americans are belligerent butt holes. Well, at least we aren't French...a people who protest in the streets if the weather man is a degree off.

 

[VanceMack]

Yes...it is and should be protected.

People that burn flags tend to discredit themselves and their arguments more than anything anyone else could say about them, so...feel free. But a word of caution...if you are just a pathetic smarmy little **** planning on creating a passionate response from people that might take exception to your actions, then you cant be too shocked when those people you intend to have a passionate response to your actions take exception and respond passionately in their own manner. And I would have a hard time convicting those that respond passionately.

 

[NoC_T]

Flag burning is decrepit, pathetic, and ignorant. But I don't see how banning the practice doesn't violate the idea of free speech and private property.

Besides, people will start burning the flag just to protest the banning of burning the flag. Because,ultimately, Americans are belligerent butt holes. Well, at least we aren't French...a people who protest in the streets if the weather man is a degree off.

Hey, that's a whole degree. It's no little thing.

 

[maquiscat]

Then would setting your house or car on fire also be considered free speech? Or perhaps a government building or vehicle?
What does it symbolize? Hate?

As long as you are not doing it for insurance fraud and it is yours outright. An argument could be made against such if you are still paying on them. Government building or vehicle is not your property thus you don't have my right to dispose of them unilaterally.

Could you be clearer? What does what symbolizes? The flag or the flag burning?

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[maquiscat]

It should be punishable by death. Nothing less than death.

And that one death should precipitate a great and horrific wave that engulfs the country in an orgy of death.

I agree. Attempting to take away my freedoms and private property rights should be met with death

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[NoC_T]

I agree. Attempting to take away my freedoms and private property rights should be met with death

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That's the spirit.

 

[Moon]

This seems like a relevant question, because of all the free speech debates.

It's a simple yes or no question.

Yes, of course.

 

[Individual]

As long as you are not doing it for insurance fraud and it is yours outright. An argument could be made against such if you are still paying on them. Government building or vehicle is not your property thus you don't have my right to dispose of them unilaterally.

Could you be clearer? What does what symbolizes? The flag or the flag burning?

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Burning the flag,of course. A burning flag produces no speech.

 

[TheParser]

1. Flag burning should be legal, if that is what one wants to do.

a. Burning the flag is, of course, a sign of weakness. It shows how powerless the flag burner is.

2. Some flag burners are just ignorant.

a. They are poorly educated people who probably do not know about the sacrifices of many young men in World War II, for example.

i . If they were shown the Battle of Iwo Jima with its thousands of casualties and then the raising of the flag, some of them might be touched enough by those men's courage to swear off burning the flag in the future.

 

[LouC]

No

Flag burning is treason

Your beef should be first with the vain citizenry and vain politicians

U.S. flag burning is certainly not treason as treasonous acts are defined in the United States Constitution.

 

[Herkamer63]

To be honest, I don't know. On one hand, yes, it's an expression that's done freely. It also let's us know who the @$$holes are that want to tear down this country.

On the other hand, it shouldn't be. Just a few days ago, in Utah, a couple was kicked out of a soccer game because they had a Betsy Ross American flag. There's nothing political about it, nor is it a symbol of racism. It was one of the first American flag designs ever created, and the American flag is a symbol of our freedom from tyranny and sacrifice we had to go through as a people. We're not just talking about those who served or are serving in the military and law enforcement, but also the people who get up, go to work, and make this country work, giving us things like the automobile, the MRI, the internet, the phone, the airplane, the computer, and many other things that we use to make life better for not only our country but around the world.

The American flag is that beacon of hope and inspiration that all nations can look to and can strive to become. The burning of our flag is an insult to those who have sacrificed, the productivity that had been created after years of hard work, and a set of laws, our US Constitution, that better benefit the individual rather than the government. It could be seen as treasonous by many people because we, as American citizens, are in this together. And no one likes a traitor to the cause. These people going around and saying that the flag is the symbol of racism and slavery are wrong in their beliefs because America was the first country, when it was founded, to end slavery. America is a place where people of any color and ethnicity can succeed and have a good life. The vast majority of the people who live here are good, decent people, who are not racist nor for slavery.

The people going around burning American flags are a symbol of the slavery, tyranny, and the racism that America stands against. If there's an upside to having flag burning accepted under the 1st Amendment, no matter how treacherous, insulting, and horrible it may be, at least we know who the REAL racists and oppressors are, and it's not those who carry flags like the Betsy Ross or modern designs.

 

[joko104]

Burning a flag isn't speech.

 

[Brochacholomigo]

Burning a flag isn't speech.

Even if that were true, it still wouldn't be even remotely criminal.

 

[maquiscat]

Burning a flag isn't speech.

Neither is non press writing, but that is protected is it not?

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[memberya2]

if its your flag why not

 

[Dans La Lune]

To those who think burning the American flag should be illegal: What should be the penalty for waving the Confederate flag?

 

[plutonium]

I see a lot of yes answers!!! wonder if that also means its ok to kneel for the anthem when it is being played or the pledge of allegiance ???? according to trump they should be fired

 

[dairyair]

I see a lot of yes answers!!! wonder if that also means its ok to kneel for the anthem when it is being played or the pledge of allegiance ???? according to trump they should be fired

It should be ok, if the venue playing the NA doesn't have a rule against it.

 

[Bodi]

I voted no. Since the flag is the symbol of our country and our country's constitution is the entity that guarantees free speech it would seem that burning the flag is symbolically destroying free speech. IF one feels the country needs changing then the tools and procedures to affect those changers are guaranteed by the constitution which is the framework of our freedom.

That is a very convoluted way to look at it...

 

[Stealers Wheel]

Outlawing flag burning (or more accurately "flag desecration") is a can of worms that would prove to be unenforceable.

First, what constitutes a "flag"? If someone shows up at a protest with a bedsheet painted red white and blue, is that close enough? How about those little flags attached to toothpicks stuck in pickles or olives and we toss in the trash on July 4th? And if someone takes a flag and fashions it into a sexy bikini, does that count? Who's going to prison, the designer, the manufacturer, the retailer, or the consumer?

Burning the flag is not always desecration. In fact, burning the worn out flag is considered the appropriate method of disposal in many circles. So, the act of burning the flag is not in and of itself a crime, but only when an inappropriate motivation is attached to the act. Motivation is a thought process, not an act. Now we have a thought crime. Do we want to go down that slippery slope?

 

[Individual]

Perhaps a fine for CO2 and other emissions as a result should be assessed?
Although I've never heard a flag say anything at all when set afire, I've only found it useful in showing me people I should probably best avoid.