Do you think the Revolutionary War was fought so that we could fly a different flag?
Do you think the Civil War was fought over whether the Confederacy could fly a different flag?
Do you think World War 2 was fought so that we could keep waving the same flag?
Do you think terrorists are trying to stop us from waving our flag?
If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you've confused a symbol with the meaning of that symbol.
Article from Yahoo News on the failure of the flag burning amendment
"Countless men and women have died defending that flag," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., closing two days of debate. "It is but a small humble act for us to defend it."
What you see above are electrons on your monitor.
Not huddled masses of electrons, yearning to be free. Just electrons.
This is a nation of people and ideas; not a nation of threads, ink, or electrons.
Liberty, justice, and freedom are ideas, and ideals, and also, in many ways, a very real part of our everyday lives. These are American values; these are what the flag is meant to represent.
The flag represents democracy and free speech; it represents the ability of every citizen to criticize the government and change it by running for office or voting.
The flag represents people like you and me; it represents the work we do, the products we make, the foods we cook, the entertainment we enjoy, and the land where we live.
The flag represents a balanced system of government; it represents our constitution and its system of checks and balances.
The flag represents our history; it represents our ancestors, our leaders, our thinkers, and our fighters.
The flag is a symbol of American pride; it represents our hopes and our struggles.
But the flag is not America. The flag is not freedom, nor liberty, nor justice, nor democracy, nor the land, not its people, nor their values. The flag is just a flag - an image. A symbol.
A powerful symbol; but only a symbol.
Men and women have died for our country - not for our flag. They have died for the things the flag represents. Those things are far greater than the flag itself.
This is the problem with the Republican Party and its adherents - they hold symbols in higher regard than the principles they represent. They value the flag over the free speech it represents. They value the definition of marriage over the bond of marriage. They value Christmas trees over Christian values like renunciation of worldly goods, renunciation of violence, forgiveness of sins, and unconditional love. They value displaying the Ten Commandments over actually keeping them. They value the Pledge of Allegiance over liberty and justice for all.
Destroying the flag does not destroy America or American lives and dreams.
The real danger is not the desecration of the flag, but the desecration of our land, our liberty, our freedom, and our democracy; these are under assault by the Administration and the Republican congress.
The real desecration of the flag is how Republicans are destroying what it stands for.