Free Speech or Contradiction?

For some reason I have been thinking about the practice by some Americans to burn our nation's flag in protest. I remember back when George H.W. Bush made it illegal to burn the flag. I remember seeing images on tv of people burning the flag in DC and being hauled off by police. Personally I get offended when I see Old Glory being burned, stomped on, or spat upon. I see it as an act that almost borders on treason. Can I defend these feelings logically? Probably not. I am only being honest in how I feel when I see it happening.

Those who defend this practice usually cite their constitutional right to freedom of speech, and expression. They also claim they are merely practicing their right to peaceable assembly in protest to the government.

Although these are all rights that I do condone and God willing, we never lose these rights, I have to question the whole flag burning. I don't believe we can make it illegal to do so, just as we can't stop anyone from burning a Bible if that's what they want to do. But, what I have to ask is; what logic comes from burning the Flag? What is the symbolism? What are they trying to say when they burn the Flag? When I turned on the tv on 9/11 and saw Muslim extremists in the streets of Baghdad burning our flag, I could see the reason. I got the message loud and clear. But when one of us does it....

To me it only speaks volumes of a person's ignorance when they chose to burn the very symbol of the freedom that allows them to demonstrate their protest in such a way. I can't think of very many nations on God's green Earth that would permit such a demonstration. But here in America, land of the Free, it's a simple matter of free speech. But to me it is the ultimate hypocrisy. The Constitution guarantees a person the freedom of speech. The Stars and Stripes is our ultimate and most sacred symbol of that very constitution. To burn it, is in effect burning the Constitution in effigy. In my mind these people are symbolically canceling themselves out.

Instead, you should be flying that flag with pride! Wave it in the face of oppression and tyranny! By all means protest and demonstrate if you disagree with policy. That's what this country is all about...That's what that flag you are burning is all about. Think about it.