Quote Originally Posted by Warbaby1943
Kraven,
You make a lot of valid points. Still I would like to see some other form of protest other than burning our nations flag, a symbol of all those freedoms you and everyone else holds so dearly to their hearts.
Exactly! All valid points but...

Kraven, it doesn't matter where a flag is made, it still represents the same thing, and burning it, as protest, will still be highly offensive to many people whether it's made here, there, or where ever.

I think perhaps the importance of this is really not the legality of flag burning, which seems to be the focus here, but more the morality of it.

Living in Australia, I have right to speak out about politics, religion, sex—damn it anything I want really, but I often choose not to. Why? Because in certain circumstances it's just not appropriate, and so I respect those situations to the extent of taking care about what I say and do. I think we all do it to a certain extent, don't we? I mean, isn't that what being civilised is all about?

Sure, a nation's flag maybe just a piece of cloth to a lot of people, and that's fine, that's their view and they're certainly entitled to it.

I agree people are diverse. Surely that's what makes life so interesting, but is it really asking so much, is it really such a sacrifice to bear to understand and respect that the flag means more to some people than others? A person's beliefs are what make them who and what they are, and to many people the symbols of who and what they hold great signifigance. I feel that it's extremely selfish and self-indulgent to desecrate something that's important to someone else, but not you, just because you feel it's your right to use it in that way, wouldn't you agree?

George Bush adheres to strong Christian beliefs. I'm agnostic, so Christian symbols don't mean anything to me, but I still wouldn't go chopping up a cross or desecrating pictures of Christ as a form of protest. The flag is just a piece of cloth, as a cross is just piece of wood, and so forth for any 'symbol'.

Burning your nation's flag is like many things, you can do, but maybe you just shouldn't.