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Freedom of Speech: Flag Burning Flag burning has been one of the most controversial forms of nonviolent protests. It is often linked with the Middle East and Hezbollah with depictions of Arabs against President Bush burning the American flag. Americans are intimidated and threatened by this action, but that does not make it illegal. Supreme Court rulings have upheld that peaceful flag desecration is a form of political speech that should be protected by our Constitution (Flag Burning Myths). This decision is the most logical. Even with all of the disruption this act may cause, flag burning should not be banned. Before even arguing to keeps the laws the way they are, take a look at the logic that is …show more content…

What if the protester becomes violent? Why should we even allow him to begin his demonstration? One might look at a possible event and say “What if someone burned a flag and it triggered a war”? Granted, that situation could very well happen with the low tolerance that is continuing to grow, but it is not valid that the only trigger of the war would be the flag. Ther must be other previous issues that have been unreolved and big enough that people would be willing to fight for them. By this prevelant paranoia approach, the government could easily overstep its bounds and restrict more than just flag burning. This would, in turn, cause a revolt against the government and not the support that the government is looking for. Passing an amendment to protect the flag would be a harsh insult to all the veterans who fought so hard to uphold the freedoms that flag represents. Because we are fortunate enough to live in a free country, it is expected that occasionally we will be offended by others exercising their rights to free expression. Countries that are not free, such as Afghanistan or China, would promptly arrest citizens for burning their country's flag. Allowing flag desecration as an offensive protest is what makes America a truly free country. Not only would a law against flag desecration be against the idea of a free country, it would be impossible to enforce. In order to prevent any possible banning of flag burning, it must be recognized