In defense of flag burning
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Politics
Soul_Venom — 6 years ago(December 14, 2019 05:59 AM)
Now don't get me wrong. I think it is stupid and in poor taste to do so as a political statement. However I support the right of people to do so. In fact I'd like to have a bunch of carts scattered throughout all the major muslim cities selling American flags. I would then have a group that posted inflamatory rhetoric online to cause muslim rioting. I'd sell out as they bought flags to burn. I'd end up with a pocket full of cash and those fools would end up poorer with a handful of ashes.
For a long time I was politically conservative. However, I eventually noticed a flaw in the conservative philosophy. Even worse this same flaw is shared by the hated liberals. It is an urge to ban activities that people find personally offensive regardless of an individuals right to practice said activity.
What sense does it make to attempt to defend a symbol of freedom by depriving others of their freedom? I chose to serve, potentially putting myself in harms way. I swore an oath to defend the freedom of others. I may not agree with what those people say but I will defend to the death the right of those people to say it. While our constitution may afford one the right to express their opinion it does not give one the right to curtail them freedom of others to do the same.
Another issue I see is the idol worship mentality. Lets go back a couple thousand years. A man heads into the woods to chop down a tree. He tosses part of the tree in the fire to cook his meal. He carves the other into a idol which he sells at the local market. The buyer takes it home, sets it up in a shrine and worships it as a god. Was the tree divine? What about the part he burned? Can god be bought or sold? And in the old days when an idol was destroyed it was treated as sacrilege. People could get killed for disrespecting this wood carving. Does this not strike you as a primitive nutcase mentality?
Now fast forward. A farmer grows some cotton. The cotton in harvested and baled. One bale is sold to a flag maker another to an underwear maker. Now true, a flag is a symbol of the freedom we cherish but it it just a symbol. It is not the freedom itself. At the end of the day this flag is a piece of cloth. Does the fact that a certain pattern has been printed on it make it sacred? It came from the same field as the cotton that was made into boxer shorts that cover peoples asses. Are the shorts sacred too? What if the the shorts have a flag pattern printed on them? What if they crap their pants? Is that sacrilege? Should they be shot?
Hopefully a light bulb has come on and you have realized that opposition to flag burning is based in magical thinking. It is understandable. Still throughout history people have had their freedoms curtailed and even lost their lives just because someone got offended. That is wrong.
Trump is still your President. Charlie Kirk still Wins! -
Soul_Venom — 6 years ago(December 14, 2019 10:45 AM)
This is actually a stock answer I use for those few times I encounter opposition on the subject. I've found it to be a rather bullet proof argument.
Trump is still your President. Charlie Kirk still Wins!