[Joe Matt]

I'll be the first to admit that it's getting late for me, so I didn't read all the replies, but here's my belief.

The flag is very special to America, from the stories of how it was created, to the song and how it was still waving during the battle, to pictures and to giving it to the familes of those who have died fighting for us. Burning the flag is a statement that is VERY harsh and VERY strong, you don't do it lightly nor do you do it for fun, etc. Flag burning says one thing: down with the USA.

Simple as that.

But, if this turns into another flag burning thread, let me post this one thing to support my other belief that means more than the flag, the Constitution. During some stage shows, magicians Penn & Teller would go on a speach about the rights we have as Americans, and how we have the right to march down a street either to promote equality, or to shun it. Then they would symbolize something very important to me, they would wrap the US Constitution in the US Flag and then burn it. In the end, they went through the ashes, and found the Constitution still intact, because in the end the flag is a piece of cloth, and in the end, the Constitution is a piece of paper with words on it declaring the rights and freedoms of it's people, and that is stronger than ANYTHING else.