In the past eleven years, an amendment to our constitution has five times been proposed and five times been rejected. The senate found the proposed amendment unconstitutional, infringing upon our first amendment rights. It would certainly seem this proposed amendment is a joke, having been rejected so much, yet some people still believe it is the best thing for our country. I am talking about flag desecration, and the considered amendment to, as its supporters say, "protect" the flag. I am opposed to this planned amendment for I feel it is grossly unnecessary, unpractical, and unconstitutional.
Supporters of this proposed amendment must certainly believe that flag desecration is a rampant crime since they wish to change our Bill of Rights for the first time in over two hundred year. However, these people are wrong. Approximately two hundred incidences of flag desecration in the United States have been reported in U.S. history (1). That works out to about one person per year. Do we really wan to change the sacred document that is the Bill of Rights for one person a year? One must also consider the sort that desecrates the American flag. They are angry with the U.S., and if the U.S. displeases them even more by lessening their rights, the sort that is likely to do this will do it more often. In short, passing the amendment will actually increase incidences of flag burning.
Some say that the flag is special; sacred to our nation. They claim that it is liberty, and harming it harms our nation. These people are confused. The flag is a piece of cloth, it has no feelings, and it is a mere symbol of freedom. By protecting that symbol of freedom, we lose the actual real freedom it stands for. Is a material thing like a cloth flag worth protecting at the sake of our freedom? Of course not! Some say veterans fought for our flag in war, even dying for the flag. Ask these men if they risked their lives for a cloth and they surely will say no.