Mrs. Morehead
English 3AP
30 November 2014
Desecration
Laws are what limit protestors to use physical violence to settle disagreements, and desecration might be interpreted as intentional infliction of mental distress on others—thus, physical infliction of pain or mental infliction are both considered pain, therefore laws should limit desecration. According to the Citizens’ Flag Alliance, from 1989 till this day there have been hundreds of recorded acts of disrespect towards the flag (Source F). Desecration is an indirect way of disrespecting the US because the flag represents not only the nation but the people. Primarily, a large amount of ideas fall under Freedom of Speech but actions have nothing to do with verbal accusations. Therefore desecrating the flag does not fall under freedom of speech. When a protestor is disrespecting the flag, it is offending the veterans that fought for and watched their fellow soldiers die protecting not just the symbol of the flag, but America. According to Source C, “Many Americans have come to see the flag as a sacred symbol of our nation and its values…” In other words, the flag is not just a representation of the USA, it is a symbol that the nation has patriotically adopted as our cover for patriotism. Subsequently, a survey taken by the American Bar Association News Center, Source D, determined that 64% of the citizens surveyed were opposed to desecration of the flag. This poll was not a close tie, the numbers clearly state that on average more people find it offensive when the flag is used as an excuse to begin riots and disorder. Additionally, Source A describes that burning a US flag is a reprehensible insult to the nation’s founders and a dishonor to the Americans who dies fighting tyranny. We metaphorically and almost literally owe our lives to the American soldiers who fought for us, the least we could do is avoid the mere disrespectfulness toward cloth. It