It’s
been seventeen years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that flag burning is
protected speech under the First Amendment and the push to pass a
constitutional amendment outlawing flag desecration began. And yet, despite our inability to enact such
an amendment, I have not personally witnessed a single flag-burning in that
entire seventeen year period. That’s
probably true of most of us.
That
alone should be enough to convince us that we need no such amendment. In fact, that our flag can fly safely without
the need of legal protection speaks volumes about our respect for the flag, and
more tellingly, of our love and respect for the values and system that flag
represents.
But
the push to amend our Constitution – and in the process desecrate the very values
that make the flag worthy of such respect – is underway once again. It is an understandable emotional response,
but sadly misguided. For if there is any
right that empowers us as private citizens in shaping our federal government,
it is our right to speak our minds freely in criticizing that government,
should it go too far.
Some
argue that flag desecration is not speech, and in a strict, literal sense they
are correct. But we have to ask why
someone would deliberately burn a flag if not to make a political
statement? And is it not protecting
political speech, however distasteful it may be, that is whole point of our
First Amendment guarantee? If we are to
be the democratic role model for the entire world, when such questions of
rights arise we should always err on the side of liberty.
To
be sure, many veterans are adamant about the need to protect our flag. For those who have fought on foreign
battlefields our flag represents everything they fought for. It can be difficult to separate the symbol
from the substance, but separate it we must.
For if we are willing to sacrifice the rights and freedoms that have
made the flag such a powerful symbol, those who have fought and died will have
died in vain. I can think of no greater
insult to those who have given their lives for freedom. Conversely, there is no greater statement we
can make to those who would desecrate the flag than to ignore them and allow
the American flag to fly defiantly in all its unprotected glory.
