Outlawing the burning of Americas flag will hurt patriotism

Hi Pro. I admire the Boy Scouts and since you are an adult Scout leader, I admire you. I agreed with the decision in Boy Scouts v. Dale, http://en.wikipedia.org... , and I have been outraged at the retaliatory actions taken thereafter against the Scouts by those who disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision. That said, I'll now return to our debate: (1) You will recall that in the first round I stated: "Pro must initially present evidence. Pro should present empirical evidence (scholarly studies) in support of his burden of proof on the proposition. Con respectfully challenges Pro to submit such evidence." I will simply observe that in this round you have not presented any empirical evidence, such as scholarly evidence, or even some opinion polls, in support of your burden of proof. (2) You make the following arguments or offers of evidence (under each of which I will comment): (A) "The first time I participated in a flag retirement ceremony I was told one of the reasons we do this is so that none may ever see our flag in a garbage dump. If we are not allowed to burn them this outcome will occur." (A) COMMENT: This is unsupported opinion ( see definition 2a, http://www.merriam-webster.com... ), hearsay ( http://www.merriam-webster.com... ), and speculation (see 1 as transitive verb, http://www.merriam-webster.com... ). Neither I nor the forum/members/potential voters who are following this debate can assess the credibility of the person who made the statement to you. Thus, argument and evidence is unreliable. (B) "As an Assistant Scoutmaster in my troop, I have observed new scouts half-hearted raise the flag in the opening ceremony. But after flag day when we had a flag retirement ceremony scheduled led by a navy veteran, they show much better patriotism now. Its almost as if they understand now the solemn way of saying the pledge of allegiance now." (B) COMMENT: The evidence is unreliable because it is anecdotal evidence. http://en.wikipedia.org... Further, and with respect, your observation is subject to criticism on the basis of being (a) prejudiced (see 2a http://www.merriam-webster.com... ), and (b) self-serving (http://www.merriam-webster.com... ). (C) "One of our past presidents said "boy do we need scouts"; if you make illegal these retirement ceremonies this will only hurt the patriotism of our scouts. The pledge of allegiance remains for them just something they have to do." (C) COMMENT: The statement "...if you make illegal these retirement ceremonies this will only hurt the patriotism...", is also subject to the criticisms: unsupported by evidence; speculation; prejudice; self-serving, FINALLY, THE STATEMENT ASSUMES AS TRUE THE VERY PROPOSITION THAT YOU HAVE THE DUTY TO PROVE! (D) "To often is flag burning debated about in ignorance of these retirement ceremonies. this method of burning a flag is a show of patriotism for our country. Where you to start messing with this form of freedom speech it will no doubt make it very easy for one loon to convince the people waving "don't tread on me" flags at all the fox news tea parties that it is time for the south to rise again." "redirecting our patriotism away from our country to a non-existent country is most certainly going to be harmful to our patriotism for the country that is real, America." (D) This is speculation. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org... http://en.wikipedia.org... I look forward to the next round.