You want to ban the US flag? Go live somewhere else

I recently read a news article about students at the University of California, Irvine, voting to remove the American flag from an "inclusive" space on campus; the students voted on a bill that said the American flag endorses American superiority and, "Has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism."

The Daily Caller also reported that the bill appears to warn about the dangers of too much free speech, saying that, "Freedom of speech, in a space that aims to be as inclusive as possible can be interpreted as hate speech." Guess what gives them the freedom to even say something that offensive? George Washington said, "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." People risk their lives and die every day, here and overseas, in an effort to preserve the freedoms that we have in America.

It angers me to think that people would use that precious gift to complain about the country and people that gives them that very right! I talked to someone last week who told me it was not that big of a deal because they were just trying to keep an open mind, and if we want everyone to be able to have their own opinion then we cannot complain about someone just because we do not share that opinion. But John Adams said, "Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people."

This also concerns me because these people talking about our flag and freedom of speech are the ones in college that will be running our country in the near future. I am afraid they may not have much "general knowledge" left. I do believe that if you want to have a true freedom of speech, you must let everyone have just that: the freedom to say whatever they want even if you do not like it. I do however think it should be illegal to ban an American flag anywhere in America.

I also attended a conference this past week and heard a story about a deputy that arrested someone for destroying an American flag and then was ultimately sued for doing so. Congress attempted to pass a constitutional amendment that would make it illegal to desecrate a flag, The "flag desecration amendment," but it failed in the United States Senate by one vote in 2006. So are we taking away from the freedom of speech if we pass such an amendment? I think we must be careful not to pass laws telling people what they can and cannot say, but there is no law that says you have to put up a U.S. flag if you do not want to.

Is it really infringing on our freedom of speech if we cannot desecrate a flag? To me that is like burning the ship you are on while in the middle of the ocean because you want to make a statement. America is the heart beat of our freedoms, and if it dies, our freedom dies with it. Our freedom of speech is one of the most powerful gifts we have, and the first amendment even gives us the freedom to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances (using our freedom of speech). We must protect that, but we must also protect the symbol of that very freedom!

I do not know what the perfect solution is to this issue, but I will use my freedom of speech to say that if you want to ban our American flag because you think it is offensive, go live in some other country. Be careful though, because burning or banning a national flag may not be legal there!