Why do so many Americans find it wrong to burn an American flag?

[MrFun]

I can understand people being upset about flag burning. I can't understand people wanting to ban flag burning (which is where this sort of argument usually goes).

Exactly! No one has the right to be free from being offended, or from having their feelings hurt.

Otherwise, following that logic, we would prohibit Ku Klux Klan members from assembling and holding public rallies/events, for an example.

[loinburger]

I can understand people being upset about flag burning. I can't understand people wanting to ban flag burning (which is where this sort of argument usually goes).

Some people would ban pretty much anything they disliked if they were allowed to do so.

[rah]

I see no reason to ban it.
It simplifies identifying troublemakers.

[Lorizael]

Some people would ban pretty much anything they disliked if they were allowed to do so.

We should ban those people.

[loinburger]

I once found a multiple-choice quiz that was supposed to determine where you fell on Kohlberg's stages of moral development. The assumption by most people taking the quiz who know anything about Kohlberg's theories are that the higher / better stages will use more sophisticated wording than the lower / worse stages, e.g. "it is wrong to kill another human because the principle of reciprocity blah blah blah" vs. "it is wrong to kill somebody because you might get caught." To counter this, the quiz included several lofty-sounding but nonsensical answers in order to weed out people who were just trying to game the quiz without knowing what they were doing.

Similarly, every election should include at least one referendum / amendment / whatever that doesn't parse but that includes the word "freedom" at least a dozen times. Anybody voting for the referendum / amendment / whatever has their ballot shredded.

[regexcellent]

I can understand people being upset about flag burning. I can't understand people wanting to ban flag burning (which is where this sort of argument usually goes).

I can understand people wanting to ban flag burning. I'm 100% against banning it and will defend your right to burn flags to the hilt, but it honestly wouldn't be some huge crisis if people had to express their hatred of America via a slightly different venue.

[MrFun]

I can understand people wanting to ban flag burning. I'm 100% against banning it and will defend your right to burn flags to the hilt, but it honestly wouldn't be some huge crisis if people had to express their hatred of America via a slightly different venue.

Maybe someone burning the American flag does not hate America no more than someone displaying the Confederate flag.

[N35t0r]

If Mr. Fun feels that way about America, he should leave. Nobody's stopping him from going. There's a big beautiful world out there!

I have yet to see Mr. Fun burning an american flag. I'm not even going to adress the stupidity behind the rest of your post.

[The Mad Monk]

Or more generally, if somebody says "I like / respect / revere / etc [X]," and in response I go out of my way to destroy / desecrate / etc [X] for no other reason than to annoy / offend them, then in all likelihood I'm being a complete *******.

Wow, loinburger gets it.

The flag is a representation of the principles of the United States.

Burning it is telling Americans that you despise them and their principles.

It is also a representation of the US state. Burning it is a representation that you despise what said state is doing, especially that part which affects your life the most.

All of these are correct, it's the disconnect between the latter two views that causes conflict.

[C0ckney]

Is it just because it's not politically correct to do so?

it's because a flag is a symbol of the set of systems and hierarchies that people trade in their dignity for a place in. burning a flag is thus an outrage - felt vicariously, like everything to do with the nation or country is - to things people hold dear.

it's just another example of the cancer of patriotism, the latest means of channelling our desire to be part of something greater than ourselves to malign and dehumanising ends.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Exactly! No one has the right to be free from being offended, or from having their feelings hurt.

Why do so many Americans find it wrong to burn an American f**?

[The Mad Monk]

Maybe someone burning the American flag does not hate America no more than someone displaying the Confederate flag.

It reads better replacing "no more" with "anymore"

Other than that...who here is advocating displaying a confederate flag? Nobody here does that!

...well, okay, I did.

...back in the eighties.

...in my room.

...but only because I really liked Alabama!

...the band, I mean...the band.

[Lorizael]

I can understand people wanting to ban flag burning. I'm 100% against banning it and will defend your right to burn flags to the hilt, but it honestly wouldn't be some huge crisis if people had to express their hatred of America via a slightly different venue.

Possibly, but that's a bad road to go down, because it's very easy to make that exact same argument again and again for many individual iterations of protest.

[kentonio]

Similarly, every election should include at least one referendum / amendment / whatever that doesn't parse but that includes the word "freedom" at least a dozen times. Anybody voting for the referendum / amendment / whatever has their ballot shredded.

That is ****ing genius.

[kentonio]

It reads better replacing "no more" with "anymore"

Other than that...who here is advocating displaying a confederate flag? Nobody here does that!

...well, okay, I did.

...back in the eighties.

...in my room.

...but only because I really liked Alabama!

...the band, I mean...the band.

Good save!