Flag Burning Should Be Banned

Flag Burning-The act of burning a flag in an act of protest (In this case we are talking about the flag of the United States). We should ban it for the following reasons: a) Flag burning is a wholly unnecessary means of protest. It does not convey an opinion that a protester could not compose more clearly through the conventional media of the spoken or written word. Flag burning is not speech but an unnecessary and offensive act of vandalism. b) It is true, law that free speech is not and should not be unlimited. Article 10 of the ECHR expressly acknowledges that freedom of expression can be curtailed in the interests of national security or public safety. Notwithstanding the unqualified language of the First Amendment, the American state legislatures and courts have consistently prohibited various categories of speech, such as bribery, perjury and counseling to murder. Free speech does of course sustain democracy. However, a vague appeal to democracy cannot support flag burning as a means of protest. The American state legislatures that have consistently prohibited flag burning have participated in a democratic process. The citizens of these states have freely expressed their opinions, through the votes of their elected representatives. It is their majority opinion that flag burning should be banned. When a court nevertheless permits the desecration of the flag, it protects the freedom of expression of one individual against the democratic freedom of the vast majority. c) It is controversial even to regard flag burning as an example of free speech. First, the law cannot label and protect a limitless variety of conduct as ‘speech' whenever the person engaging in the conduct intends thereby to express an idea. Only reckless or accidental acts are not intended by the actor to have a certain effect. Second, from the theories of John Milton and J. S. Mill we have recognised that the purpose of free speech protection is the advancement of knowledge or truth. The US Supreme Court has developed these theories through regularly using the metaphor of the "marketplace of ideas". Free speech allows the value and accuracy of different ideas to be publicly discussed, rejected, accepted or developed. Yet, flag burning does not contribute to any dialogue or exchange of ideas. It is the opposite of calm and rational debate. d) The national flag is a symbol of nationhood and national unity that ought to be protected from abuse. The flag is a unique symbol that has been cherished by the population since the foundation of the Republic. It represents the turbulent struggle for unity through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. The protestor burns a flag not in order to damage the material per se but to harm or criticise the ideals that the flag represents. It is not necessary to show that patriotic feeling is in fact damaged by flag burning. It suffices that the act of desecration is designed to offend these ideals. The learned jurist Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes warned that "a page of history is worth a volume of logic". Patriotic principles do deserve and do receive the respect that is manifested in obedience to the flag. Saluting the flag is conventional (though no longer constitutionally compelled) throughout the American school system. The flag is raised and flown on public buildings and at major public events. Citizens express their adherence to the flag through the votes of their elected representatives in state legislatures to pass laws that prohibit flag burning. The law properly protects the principles that are important to its citizens from attack: blasphemy laws protect certain religious beliefs from desecration, slander and libel laws protect personal and group reputations from abuse. Furthermore, even if we assume that flag burning is a valid means of expression, the freedom of expression must be balanced against the important societal interests that are represented by the flag. Given the existence of alternative methods of expression that do not harm these ideals of national unity, the balance is in favor of the prohibition of flag desecration. e) Fire is dangerous. Your mother told you "don't play with fire", so don't. Thank you whoever accepts this debate.