To Wave or Burn?
June 28th, 2006 | by Craig R. Harmon |That’s a a question that was taken up in the Senate, Tuesday Evening. Actually, it was a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would allow Congress to legally sanction the burning or other physical desecration of the nation’s flag. It fell one vote short of passing.
Now I like the flag and I love what it stands for. I still get a lump in my throat when I see one waving. It speaks to me of freedom bought at the dear price of the lives and limbs and psychological scarring of those who have served in the past and are serving today. Honestly, I flash back to grade school and standing, hand on my chest, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance; singing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”, “America, the Beautiful”, “America” and other songs; to Cub Scouts, saluting the flag. It says to me:
“You are blessed to be a citizen of a strong and free nation; don’t ever take that for granted. Be proud of your nation but humble too: proud because your nation has the power to do great good in this world but humble because there are many that long for the freedom that you enjoy but will never experience it and you did nothing to gain the power or liberty that you enjoy.”
It speaks to me of other things, too: of images of Americans burning and stomping on the flag, protesting what they believed to be a waste of lives in a malconceived and executed war. It speaks to me of peoples of other countries doing the same thing in hatred over some policy that they believed benefitted some countries but harmed their own or in triumph over taking over our diplomatic consulate and holding Americans hostage, seeing a victory that shamed my great nation.
At times it speaks to me of the passing of some great statesman: a president in office, gunned down in the streets of Dallas; a President’s brother, gunned down on the campaign trail, a civil rights activist with a dream.
My flag speaks volumes to me. Which of these, precisely, depends upon my mood or the height of the flag on the mast but always it has spoken to me. For this reason I will never support the sort of amendment that very nearly gained a two-thirds support in the Senate yesterday.
You see, just as the flag speaks to me, so does anything that anyone does with the flag. If I see a flag respectfully displayed, it says to me that there is an American who is proud to be an American and proud of those brave men and women who have and are fighting on its behalf. When I see it being desecrated and destroyed, it says to me that there is a person who is angry over some grievance, real or imagined, who is lashing out at the symbol of the cause of her or his grievance. Flag desecration is a statement of the desecrator’s hurt, frustration and rage.
One cannot legally sanction flag desecration without legally sanctioning speech and that is one liberty that I am not willing to sacrifice any part of. Brave men and women have risked and are risking their lives to protect all of our people’s right to speak their mind, to protest, to say “Hell no, we won’t go!” or to chant “We shall overcome!” Perhaps the most important part of the first amendment is the protection of the right to express and have grievance redressed.
We must not sacrifice our rights, even to protect my most cherished symbol: Our flag!
- Craig R. Harmon
6 Responses to “To Wave or Burn?”
By ken grandlund on Jun 28, 2006 | Reply
Bravo Craig, bravo.
By Craig R. Harmon on Jun 28, 2006 | Reply
Thanks.
By Liberal Thinker on Jun 28, 2006 | Reply
“Flag desecration is a statement of the desecrator’s hurt, frustration and rage.”
I completely agree. I think that is a wonderful way to put it. Too often it is argued that the flag burner is anti-american or a traitor or a disgrace to america. I think it is important for people to realize that loyal flag-loving americans can be so moved by their countries actions that they can only express their anger, disgust, hurt through an equally emotional action of burning that flag they love.
By Liberal Jarhead on Jun 30, 2006 | Reply
Why is it so hard for people to get it that the flag is a symbol of something great, not the thing itself? To destroy liberties in the name of preserving their symbol is to affirm that appearance is everything and substance is nothing.
Anyone who fights for what the flag stands for is a patriot. Anyone who fights for the piece of cloth itself, against what it stands for, is an idiot.
By Craig R. Harmon on Jun 30, 2006 | Reply
To all,
I can understand the impulse, even if I don’t agree with it. It’s akin, I think, in some peoples’ minds, to fighting words. Insult my wife and you better duck; insult my flag and, by extension, my country, and ducking won’t help you because I’ll catch you with an upper-cut. That sort of thing. It’s an impulse, as I say, that I understand. It is, itself, I think, a misunderstanding of the act in most instances. I don’t mean Muslims throughout the world burning our flag, of course; they really had better duck. I mean the American protestor: the ‘Meathead’ to Archie Bunker sort of thing and the “My country — right or wrong” idea of patriotism. It’s not an evil or bad sort of patriotism. I love America even when she’s wrong and seeing my flag being burned by a fellow American — it’s an awful feeling of anger that I get, initially, myself. It’s just not the only kind of patriotism or necessarily even the best kind of patriotism and I think that that’s what’s missed by those that try to shut down flag-burning. But I can understand it because, seeing my flag being burned by a fellow American — it’s an awful feeling of anger that I get, initially, myself. It takes work and thought to see that what lies behind the act is, fundamentally, the desire to bring about a better country, a better culture and to make of us all a better people.
Anyway, thanks for your comments, all of you.
By Craig R. Harmon on Jun 30, 2006 | Reply
Oops, I see that I duplicated a segment of text. I thought I was cutting it and moving it elsewhere. As it turns out, I simply copied it so that it appears twice. /sigh/