I confess: I burned flags.

From moving to the United States at the age of 15 until I headed off for college, I was an avid flag burner. Every 4th of July, while the fireworks burst overhead, my friends and I would gather around a predisclosed location to partake in the burning of the United States flag to protest what we felt was a gross injustice. While everyone else celebrated Americas freedom, we were protesting the blatant ignorance of our fellow citizens. How could you celebrate a country so regulated and deep in the depths of corruption and professional politics we asked ourselves.

Since then, It has lost its meaning to me. Burning the flag seems incredibly insignificant in the fight against corruption and a return to the roots that the Founding Fathers had envisioned, but I wonder if it was wrong. A flag symbolizes everything about a country. When you see a flag, you know what that country stands for and all that it proclaims across the globe. Before you start to bash me, I am an American by blood and therefore a citizen, so I believe I had the right.

Many do not believe that flag burning is a right people should have and want an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit it. That idea doesn't sit well with my and I wondered if my fellow ATS members had any insight into this act of burning a flag, or any feelings towards it's prohibition or celebration.

My flag pole has stood without a flag since. December 12, 2001.

more flags need to be burned, from a variety of different countries. viva the revolution...and all that good stuff.

Originally posted by insite
From moving to the United States at the age of 15 until I headed off for college, I was an avid flag burner. Every 4th of July, while the fireworks burst overhead, my friends and I would gather around a predisclosed location to partake in the burning of the United States flag to protest what we felt was a gross injustice. While everyone else celebrated Americas freedom, we were protesting the blatant ignorance of our fellow citizens. How could you celebrate a country so regulated and deep in the depths of corruption and professional politics we asked ourselves.

Since then, It has lost its meaning to me. Burning the flag seems incredibly insignificant in the fight against corruption and a return to the roots that the Founding Fathers had envisioned, but I wonder if it was wrong. A flag symbolizes everything about a country. When you see a flag, you know what that country stands for and all that it proclaims across the globe. Before you start to bash me, I am an American by blood and therefore a citizen, so I believe I had the right.

Many do not believe that flag burning is a right people should have and want an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit it. That idea doesn't sit well with my and I wondered if my fellow ATS members had any insight into this act of burning a flag, or any feelings towards it's prohibition or celebration.

I see burining the U.S. flag as an mephistophelian act. I am glad that you have decided to stop buring the good old red, white, and blue.

I see no problem with burning a flag in protest. You have the right to free speech and to protest if you believe an injustice has been done. More people should burn flags in protest.

[Edited on 15-1-2004 by Ocelot]

I don't know about going so far as to call it mephistophelian. Sure it has to do with fire, it has more to do with symbolism than my own pyromania. Do you have a reason you feel this way TheConservative? Why is it evil?

[Edited on 1-15-2004 by insite]

That's just the way I view people burning our flag. I hate seeing the pictures on TV and the internet of people buring it. My sense of patriotism, which is extremely high, crosses into this area; therefore I view it as an almost evil act. It's only my opinion.

Originally posted by TheConservative
That's just the way I view people burning our flag. I hate seeing the pictures on TV and the internet of people buring it. My sense of patriotism, which is extremely high, crosses into this area; therefore I view it as an almost evil act. It's only my opinion.

Im just curious. What's your definition of being a "patriot"?

I don't know if I came off as nationalistic, but being a patriot to me is to have pride and faith in one's country.

My personal opinion is that true patriotism is caring about your country enough to criticize the elements that need fixing in an effort to show people your disdain, hopefully sparking an interest in reforming and contributing to the issue at hand, not dwelling on symbols. It's almost like people are trying to uphold an illusion of invinciblity.

[Edited on 1-15-2004 by insite]

Originally posted by TheConservative
I don't know if I came off as nationalistic, but being a patriot to me is to have pride and faith in one's country.

OK fair enough. So what's your opinion of the corrupt and criminal Bush administration?

Originally posted by insite
My personal opinion is that true patriotism is caring about your country enough to criticize the elements that need fixing in an effort to show people your disdain and spark an interest in reforming and contributing to the issue at hand, not dwell on symbols. It's almost like people are trying to uphold an illusion of invinciblity.

I agree.

Originally posted by Ocelot

Originally posted by TheConservative
I don't know if I came off as nationalistic, but being a patriot to me is to have pride and faith in one's country.

OK fair enough. So what's your opinion of the corrupt and criminal Bush administration?

Good question. At this time, I am not sure about what to think of President Bush; although I believe that he is doing a good job. There are some positives and some negatives with his administration, but I will continue supproting him. The idea of sending astronauts to Mars got my attention, but at an estimated $1 trillion, one-tenth of of yearly GDP as of current, our country's deficit would go way beyond the expeceted $500 billion for this year alone.

[Edited on 15-1-2004 by TheConservative]

Originally posted by TheConservative
Good question. At this time, I am not sure about what to think of President Bush; although I believe that he is doing a good job. There are some positives and some negatives with his administration, but I will continue supproting him. The idea of sending astronauts to Mars got my attention, but at an estimated $1 trillion, one-tenth of of yearly GDP as of current, our country's deficit would go way beyond the expeceted $500 billion for this year alone.

Thats what I thought.

Originally posted by TheConservative
I don't know if I came off as nationalistic, but being a patriot to me is to have pride and faith in one's country.

i respect your opinion but i'm personally not very proud of this countries history, or present, and i have no faith in the people currently running it. i think faith is something thats done a lot of harm in this world, be careful what you place yours in.

- one

While I do not agree with buring the flag, just the fact that you can do it shows how great the USA is.

Originally posted by jetsetter
While I do not agree with buring the flag, just the fact that you can do it shows how great the USA is.

I agree. But there are plenty of countries where you can burn a flag with no legal consequences. I don't know if you are an American jetsetter, but if you are you must realize that the United States is not the most free nation on Earth. If we aren't imprisoning people for flag burning, then we are for other reasons. For exaple, the United States has the highest percentage of its population in some form of the prison system. The percentage is unmatched by any country throughout recorded history.

To me, a country is just a line on the map. Burning a flag is nothing...it's just a piece of fabic. Being a human is foremost in my mind....

I'm a Brit, so I have no patriotic axe to grind about the US flag. However, I will say that the flag represents the USA, both good and bad, and burning it shows disrespect to the good things about the country.

We all know how corrupt the current administration is, but burning the flag won't change that - only a concerted effort on the parts of true Americans to boot them out at the next election will do that.

I burned the flag long before Bush was President. Burning the flag is truely a disrespectful act, that's what makes it so appealing to protest.