-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- At 09:52 AM 6/13/97 -6, Peter Trei wrote: ...
Think about this:
Would you rather people did not burn the flag because:
1. They'll be thrown in the slammer if they do. 2. The[y] revere the values for which it stands, and will not descrate a meaningful symbol of these values.
In (2), we can look at the (very rare) individuals who *do* burn the flag, and determine for ourselves if they have a valid point to convey.
In (1), we'll never know.
For Congress to deny the freedom to burn the flag is a desecration of what the flag stands for - a descration of the flag by the government itself.
(I'm on Ray's FCPUNKS, please cc me directly, my replies may be delayed and this may have already been covered anyway. Probably was.) 1. Burning is a proper way to dispose of old flags, according to my old boyscout handbook, so I guess this is thoughtcrime. 2. Why not outlaw desecrating the Bill of Rights? (Oh, yeah. Congress does that daily right now...) 3. Since when was "the flag" sacred, anyway? Doesn't something have to be sacred for it to be desecrated? Isn't this a secular country? 4. Doesn't this seem like a way _not_ to discuss the sea of red ink that this country is currently drowning in, and just stir up folks' emotions instead? Sure does to me...I wish veterans and others who get hot under the collar about this would get 1/8 as pissed about the national debt. 5. Burn my flag (or copy of the Bill of Rights) and you'll probably wind up shot. Burn your own flag/copy and watch me yawn. This law is a *particularly* stupid one. JMR -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQEPAwUBM6Y7IjUhsGSn1j2pAQFLCwfQyJd1lPvX/TJOu6draMvMuZW9fBSHQI09 vflL8+Po+Y8KS6v12qi8wsUsVSINYOL2SS+/BSu87GbqExLxgqDji5H3imH9lKmO v7ipjyg8T9ybrKWinpkFGh/SWXNsJt6vsLltbRQgzurHRKVXAAs4KhCeHFUrwdQT 5GYh9CQkWsiyRW15/7iR2gkn3wcnZdnQBemFrTAIwswwuS9McyyluX+NO6a/nS27 HDU7aqlVtJ12i9eXY1yg60BGRK66fa4a/52XkIRe92mhWDp7soxDaeWTE4akCIiG Hd2APfyVI+CAnaUlocgbg0o6j6nCe5ZKKB3JbX9sevA8Pw== =Cytc -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Regards, Jim Ray <jmr@shopmiami.com> DNRC Minister of Encryption Advocacy One of the "legitimate concerns of law enforcement" seems to be that I was born innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around. -- me http://shopmiami.com/prs/jimray/ PGP id.A7D63DA9 98 1F 39 BA 93 86 B4 F5 57 52 64 0E DA BA 2C 71