THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509280020
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
A recent letter to the editor claimed that burning a flag violates the rights of Americans because ``we have the right to have our flag respected.'' The debate is not about respect, but about rights.
The Constitution doesn't mention the right of the flag to be respected; it does mention the right to free speech. And flag-burning is a form of free speech.
People burn a flag because they wish to protest government policies. It is such an effective, attention-grabbing form of speech that people say it should be banned. This type of ban only serves to limit the freedoms upon which our society supposedly rests.
When these fundamental rights are denied, the floodgates are opened to more abuses, and society moves closer to an Orwellian state.
That small numbers of people do not condone flag-burning does not negate people's right to do so. The true harm lies not in the supposed ``unpatriotism'' of burning a flag but in the restriction of fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
SANDEEP K. SHAH
Virginia Beach, Sept. 19, 1995 by CNB