Free to be you and me
During the State of the Union address this last year, an Iraqi woman showed her purple thumb as a sign she had voted in the elections in Iraq. A standing ovation immediately followed.
So what was the big deal? Iraq had elections before Saddam was toppled. What was new? Saddam often bragged about them, saying the people were 100% behind him, and he was elected to power.
Well, they weren't free elections. People were forced to vote for Saddam, or face serious consequences, tortue, even death. The elections were regarded by the international community as meaningless.
So today the House passed a bill to propose a constitutional amendment banning flag burning. On this side of freedom, it makes sense to most people. The flag should be respected, and flag burning is the most disrespectful (to say the least) thing you can do to it. Therefore it should be banned.
However, the flag is a symbol, one I have great respect for. However, it's because I'm free to respect it is what gives it such power. I'm not forced by law to respect it. I'm given the free will to respect it, and I do.
It's once you're on the other side of freedom that it becomes diminished. Once we're no longer free to respect the flag, it's in the constitution that you must, shades of Iraq start to form. Much the elections in Saddam's Iraq were considered meaningless, respect for the flag starts to become meaningless once you force it upon people by law.
And one of the things that makes this country great is that I'm free to speak my mind. There's many groups I don't agree with, Nazis, Klu Klux Klan, etc. But they're not illegal. I don't agree with flag burning either, but I'm not forced by law to respect it either. And that freedom is what makes the flag all the more powerful of a symbol. Curtailing that freedom means diminishing the power of our flag.
So what was the big deal? Iraq had elections before Saddam was toppled. What was new? Saddam often bragged about them, saying the people were 100% behind him, and he was elected to power.
Well, they weren't free elections. People were forced to vote for Saddam, or face serious consequences, tortue, even death. The elections were regarded by the international community as meaningless.
So today the House passed a bill to propose a constitutional amendment banning flag burning. On this side of freedom, it makes sense to most people. The flag should be respected, and flag burning is the most disrespectful (to say the least) thing you can do to it. Therefore it should be banned.
However, the flag is a symbol, one I have great respect for. However, it's because I'm free to respect it is what gives it such power. I'm not forced by law to respect it. I'm given the free will to respect it, and I do.
It's once you're on the other side of freedom that it becomes diminished. Once we're no longer free to respect the flag, it's in the constitution that you must, shades of Iraq start to form. Much the elections in Saddam's Iraq were considered meaningless, respect for the flag starts to become meaningless once you force it upon people by law.
And one of the things that makes this country great is that I'm free to speak my mind. There's many groups I don't agree with, Nazis, Klu Klux Klan, etc. But they're not illegal. I don't agree with flag burning either, but I'm not forced by law to respect it either. And that freedom is what makes the flag all the more powerful of a symbol. Curtailing that freedom means diminishing the power of our flag.
posted by Joe Carlin at 10:31 PM
1 Comments:
How insightful and your words ring so true.
We're very lucky to be Americans and incredibly fortunate to live in the U.S., especially in San Francisco.
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