7/10/2003

Save a Flag, Burn the Bill of Rights

Here’s a chicken and egg type question. Does teasing cause kids to run home and get mom to fight their battles for them, or does running home to get mom cause them to get teased? It’s a dynamic I imagine we are all familiar with. We all probably ran home at one time or another, but for most of us, our moms or dads simply told us that if we ignored the abuse it would stop. Be strong, be resilient, and no one will mess with you. And they were right.

I thought of that as I looked upon all the American flags flying during the Fourth of July holiday. Strong and resilient. Able to withstand the slings and arrows some might throw its way. A symbol of a country that knows it’s not perfect, but tries its best everyday. And that flag flies proudly everywhere you look. We don’t need to be prodded or encouraged to fly it—we do so because we love and respect the flag and all it represents.

Yet, once again, we are running home to get mom to fight our battles. A proposed constitutional amendment banning flag desecration has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will soon go before the Senate. It is a misguided notion that will neither protect the flag, nor make our nation any stronger. All it will do is raise the stakes for those who would burn the flag, making it a more enticing target. And in the process, we will desecrate the single most important thing that the flag represents—our Bill of Rights.

For all its beauty and glory, it is not the flag, but the freedoms guaranteed in the first ten amendments to our Constitution for which millions have fought and thousands have died. In the two hundred-sixteen years since they were adopted, we have never tinkered with those amendments. They are as close to sacred as any secular document can be. They are worth fighting and dying for. Yet we are ready to chip away at those very freedoms in order to give ourselves a false sense of security.

There are those who argue that burning the flag is not speech. In a strict sense, they are correct. But why would anyone deliberately desecrate the flag except to express displeasure with the United States. When it comes to discerning what is or isn’t speech, especially when it involves dissent, we should always choose to err on the side of liberty.

We need to keep in mind that dissent was precisely the type of speech our founding fathers sought to protect when they wrote our constitution. As distasteful and moronic as burning a flag might be, it is certainly an act more worthy of protection under the free speech clause than pornography or offensive art-- both of which have found refuge there.

And what will we gain from a ban on desecration? Unlike other crimes, from speeding to murder, where fear of getting caught acts as a deterrent, flag-burners want to get caught. Notoriety is what they seek. If we turn our heads and ignore them, the act serves no purpose and therefore loses all allure for those who might consider it. But make it a crime and suddenly they can attract attention. Is it that far-fetched to envision some group organizing a mass flag-burning, leading to mass arrests? It is a publicity seeker’s dream-come-true.

There was a time when the Cadillac emblem represented the very best of American ingenuity. But when they put the crest on a revamped Chevy Cavalier, the emblem lost its luster. It wasn’t the emblem, but what stood behind it that gave it weight. The same is true of our flag. We love it because it represents what makes our country great. Yet if we decide that we are too weak to accept criticism, too insecure to ignore the actions of a few ignoramuses, it too, will become an empty symbol—one which will not be worthy of the love we now give it.

It is not the insult, but one’s response to it that is the true measure of one’s character. The most respected individuals are those who can shrug off the words and actions of others whose opinions are meaningless. That they do nothing is a sign of strength, not weakness. Let us all demonstrate our nation’s strength by letting our flag fly high in all its unprotected glory.