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Originally Posted by Karthik
Recently I found out that a friend of the girl I'm seeing, is very proud of the fact that he's burned an American flag. He's a Canadian, and he's been bragging about the deed on his website. To me, this is disgusting and I want nothing to do with this guy. The flag is a sacred symbol, and for someone to desecrate it is completely insulting and disrespectful. The girl I'm seeing thinks I'm completely over reacting, and doesn't see a big deal about his actions. I told the girl that I refuse to be cordial to her friend, and as a result she's saying I'm immature.
My question to you as Americans is, am I over reacting? Or am I right to be incensed by his actions?
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You have every right to be incensed by his actions, and I will not say that you are overreacting, however, your reaction does give him "power". Do you know why flag burning is an effective form of protest? Because so many people overreact to it. I don't think you have to be cordial (warm and friendly and sincere, that's what cordial means) to her friend, but if she values his friendship and you value her friendship, you should at least be polite. Sometimes I think people worship symbols more than what the symbol actually stands for. One of the symbols of the U.S. flag is freedom. One of the best things about America is the freedom of being able to burn the flag in peaceful political protest. It's the freedom of knowing I could, if I wanted to, (remember, I said, if I wanted to), go out to my balcony right now and holler out "George Bush is a complete moron!" without fear of being thrown in jail (I use this as an example only and Bush's name only because he is the current leader of my country, I am not trying to insult any Bush supporters nor am I declaring a political affiliation).
Just because I support the right to burn a flag does not mean that I would do it. Personally, I think flag burners are rather silly. (and I especially found the clips of Marilyn Manson wiping his backside with the American flag repulsive on all levels) If they actually make flag burning illegal, the number of flags burned would increase. Here's a link to a website about
Flag Rules and Regulations . These are guidelines, not laws. Interesting enough, if you scroll down, you'll see that you are not supposed to wear a U.S. flag as apparel. So a die-hard may think that anyone wearing a tee-shirt with a flag on it should be thrown in jail because they are disrespecting the flag. And George Bush should be impeached because he autographed a flag (writing on a flag being another no-no).
Freedom is intangible and so it is assigned symbols for people to praise, to show off. But it is only an allusion to the real thing. An interesting, if controversial note, is that this flag that represents freedom was first created for a country that was not truly free. On June 14, 1777, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes for the American flag, women were not allowed to vote and in most cases even own land and slavery was rampant in the south (and would get worse before it got better). The fight for freedom was just beginning then and it would be an uphill battle, one that, to certain degrees, still goes on today.
Heidi
p.s. the U.S. history courses I've been taking have fully taken on the American Myth and the American Reality, and where I first thought it would make me more cynical about my country, I've found it's only made me love it more.