Flag Burning?
from the confused-terms
dept.
There's an article
on CNN about a flag being
retired
by burning. Supposedly the flag was being flown on September 11th, 2001 during
the attack on the Pentagon. The person who now owns the flag decided to retire
it by burning it, which is a dignified and appropriate thing to do when it's
time.
My understanding is that flag burning is when someone intentionally disrespects the flag by burning it in a demonstration or protest. What this man did isn't flag burning but instead flag retirement. The only question was whether it really was time to retire this flag because this motive was to put the authenticity issue to rest.
The part I take issue with is the following quote from the article:
Contacted Thursday, Nicholson said of the flag burning, "I don't agree with it, but it's a free country."
The quote taken by itself just leads me to believe that Nicholson (the original owner) didn't believe it was time to retire the flag. But CNN used the phrase "flag burning" which has a completely different connotation. The Boy Scouts of America do not outline several flag burning protocols. They outline several flag retirement protocols, which include fire.
I think CNN needs to be more careful with how they word stuff like this. I can just see people protesting the BSA now because they are flag burning advocates.
By the way, I'm fine with protesters doing anything they want with their flags. Free Speech is just that; Free Speech. I think it's great that we have that right, and I think it's great that we have a devoted military that will protect our right to disrespect the flag. This is just a different issue altogether from flag retirement.
My understanding is that flag burning is when someone intentionally disrespects the flag by burning it in a demonstration or protest. What this man did isn't flag burning but instead flag retirement. The only question was whether it really was time to retire this flag because this motive was to put the authenticity issue to rest.
The part I take issue with is the following quote from the article:
Contacted Thursday, Nicholson said of the flag burning, "I don't agree with it, but it's a free country."
The quote taken by itself just leads me to believe that Nicholson (the original owner) didn't believe it was time to retire the flag. But CNN used the phrase "flag burning" which has a completely different connotation. The Boy Scouts of America do not outline several flag burning protocols. They outline several flag retirement protocols, which include fire.
I think CNN needs to be more careful with how they word stuff like this. I can just see people protesting the BSA now because they are flag burning advocates.
By the way, I'm fine with protesters doing anything they want with their flags. Free Speech is just that; Free Speech. I think it's great that we have that right, and I think it's great that we have a devoted military that will protect our right to disrespect the flag. This is just a different issue altogether from flag retirement.
Posted: Thursday - August 25, 2005 at 12:41 PM |
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