• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Flag Burning

Litany said:
It's a flag. GET OVER IT!
Click to expand...

It's opinion which may not be the same as your opinion but which is just as valid. It not a question of getting over anything, otherwise what is the point of discussion.

Aqua Blue asked the question, without at first giving his opinion, so he obviously wanted a reaction to the question.

A throw away answer 'It's a flag. GET OVER IT' could then be applied to any question on this forum 'It's a war. GET OVER IT'. Since you brought up the subject.
 
chris302116 said:
A throw away answer 'It's a flag. GET OVER IT' could then be applied to any question on this forum 'It's a war. GET OVER IT'. Since you brought up the subject.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree with this. What are the consequences of burning a flag? I can come up with ashes, a funny smell perhaps and the off chance that you may loose some arm hair. What are the consequences of war? If you equate innocent people dying with a piece of fabric (no matter what it means to you) being burned, your perspective is WAY off.
 
mehastings said:
I totally disagree with this. What are the consequences of burning a flag? I can come up with ashes, a funny smell perhaps and the off chance that you may loose some arm hair. What are the consequences of war? If you equate innocent people dying with a piece of fabric (no matter what it means to you) being burned, your perspective is WAY off.
Click to expand...

So why should a soldier who fought in WW2 be told 'to get over it' when he sees his countries flag being set on fire.

Why is the flag being burnt? Because some morons like burning flags, or is being set on fire because of what it represents. What soldiers fought for to make this country a free and better place for you and me and Litany to live in.

I don't think that my perspective is WAY off at all.
 
The image of somebody maliciously burning a flag is disturbing to many of us. If one see a national flag as a symbol of that country, and thinks of the blood, sweat, and tears the freedom to fly that flag represents, it might be a bit disturbing to see one's flag burned like this. I don't like to see any nation's flag treated this way. I just think there are better ways to express whatever these people are trying to say. If course, these flags are 'just flags' in one sense, but to many, what they represent is much more than that.

I feel the same way when I see images of book burnings. There's much more involved in this situation than just burning whatever objects are tossed into the flames.
 
chris302116 said:
So why should a soldier who fought in WW2 be told 'to get over it' when he sees his countries flag being set on fire.
Click to expand...

Because it's a flag, not parliament. It's not his house. It's not his hair.

Would you be upset if I made a little effigy of you and stuck pins in it? Am I stabbing you in the belly? Will you bleed to death through your belly button?

If I burn the flag of my country do I suddenly destroy all its laws? Does the Prime Minister explode in a fire ball? If only. Does my house suddenly teleport into Iran? Will dogs start wearing trousers?

If people want to burn flags, that's fine by me. I have more important things to think about. As far as I'm concerned it's nice to have a hobby and at least it gets them out of the house and socialising.
 
Litany said:
Because it's a flag, not parliament. It's not his house. It's not his hair.

Would you be upset if I made a little effigy of you and stuck pins in it? Am I stabbing you in the belly? Will you bleed to death through your belly button?

If I burn the flag of my country do I suddenly destroy all its laws? Does the Prime Minister explode in a fire ball? If only. Does my house suddenly teleport into Iran? Will dogs start wearing trousers?

If people want to burn flags, that's fine by me. I have more important things to think about. As far as I'm concerned it's nice to have a hobby and at least it gets them out of the house and socialising.
Click to expand...


I often think of the tremendous passion these people are expressing..all that energy they might put to something more productive.
 
Litany said:
Would you be upset if I made a little effigy of you and stuck pins in it? Am I stabbing you in the belly? Will you bleed to death through your belly button?
Click to expand...

Ok What about some Danish cartoons depicting some prophet.....does 'get over it'. still apply?
 
There is a difference between thinking flag burning is bad, and the reaction we witnessed to the Danish cartoons which cast Mohammed in a bad light. Thinking an action is wrong is not the same as calling for the deaths of those involved in said action.
 
So why should a soldier who fought in WW2 be told 'to get over it' when he sees his countries flag being set on fire.
Click to expand...

This argument always comes up, and always leaves me wondering "Does that mean it's OK for German, Japanese and Italian protestors to burn their countries' flags?"
 
beer good said:
This argument always comes up, and always leaves me wondering "Does that mean it's OK for German, Japanese and Italian protestors to burn their countries' flags?"
Click to expand...


I personally don't like seeing anyone's flag being burned. If I were German, Japanese, Italian, British, Swedish, etc, I would not like seeing my nation's flag desecrated this way.
 
abecedarian said:
I personally don't like seeing anyone's flag being burned. If I were German, Japanese, Italian, British, Swedish, etc, I would not like seeing my nation's flag desecrated this way.
Click to expand...

So we've established that WWII has nothing at all to do with it, then. Good.

I don't necessarily like it either, but there are a lot of opinions I dislike. Burning flags is one of the less harmful ways of demonstrating them (as opposed to, say, rioting or planting bombs) and I gotta think it's a pretty small issue compared to some others.
 
chris302116 said:
So why are we restricted to discussing topics with something as simple as a 'get over it' solution, in a mature discussions area. :confused:
Click to expand...
As I don't think it to be a particularly big issue then I don't personally see the point in dwelling on it. I tend to follow my own instincts in life and not consciously allow myself to get brainwashed by politics, religion, or other abstractions to believe that an inanimate object is anything more than an inanimate object. The idea is something transposed from an ideology is, to me, ludicrous. The idea is in the mind and in the mind only. You can't physically migrated meaning to the inanimate object, therefore by destroying the inanimate object you are doing no harm to the idea. That persists.
 
beer good said:
So we've established that WWII has nothing at all to do with it, then. Good.

I don't necessarily like it either, but there are a lot of opinions I dislike. Burning flags is one of the less harmful ways of demonstrating them (as opposed to, say, rioting or planting bombs) and I gotta think it's a pretty small issue compared to some others.
Click to expand...


I think you're right that flag burning is a less harmful way to demonstrate opposition. I just reserve the right to be offended by it;) If there were just a simple formula for determining that fine line between freedom and responsibility...
 
Again, if you didn't get offended by it they wouldn't do it. You're the one that gives power to the symbol and you're the one who can withhold that power. It's all in the mind. The flag really is just a piece of fabric.

As Stephen Fry said so eloquently, 'So you’re offended. So fucking what?'
 
Litany said:
Again, if you didn't get offended by it they wouldn't do it. You're the one that gives power to the symbol and you're the one who can withhold that power. It's all in the mind. The flag really is just a piece of fabric.

As Stephen Fry said so eloquently, 'So you’re offended. So fucking what?'
Click to expand...


Doesn't it depend on how the offended party handles their reactions? I doubt my opinion and reaction rank very high in the minds of these people burning flags. Me sitting at my computer spouting off really doesn't change a blooming thing. I do think their behavior is wrong, but as beergood pointed out, there are much worse ways for them to demonstrate their anger. You're right, they are looking for a reaction, but I'm not sure MY reaction matters much, since I'm not the one who puts their images on the nightly news. In fact, I don't even watch the nightly news.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top