Poll: Do you care about "flag burning"?

[Agayek]

It seems mostly pointless. I think it's basically a way for angry people to vent without actually doing anything harmful (or useful).

People who get offended should keep in mind that it's just a piece of cloth that's being burnt, instead of, you know, a human being.

This is my take on it. It accomplishes nothing except add more CO2 to the atmosphere. Someone, somewhere doesn't like someone else somewhere else. I am shocked by this surprising and unknowable fact. Just absolutely appalled.

I may get a bit annoyed with people run around screaming "BURN THE HEATHENS" or whatever their equivalent is, but a flag burning doesn't bother me at all.

Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

You say that like they're different things...

A nation stands for a certain set of ideals, just like a religion does. It's functionally equivalent to burn one or the other. I will agree with you on the language though, that's a bit different.

As I said above, I don't see it as offensive, simply because it's people blowing hot air. It's relatively rare for people to actually get along properly, and demonstrations of that distaste are far preferable to actual violence.

 

[Total LOLige]

I do take offense to flag burning, It's like calling a black man "a dirty ******" or a brown person "a paki bastard" except you're saying it to an entire country. I'm from the UK, I also object to the burning of anything that represents a culture so koran burning, bible burning, poppy burning is offensive. I'm not personally offended by bible or koran burning because I'm not a muslim or christian but it is disrespectful.

What? No it isn't. Those are other terms are discriminatory and have baggage behind them. Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

I didn't say flag burning was the same as burning religious texts.

Okay. Drop the religious part and that still leaves my issue with saying it's the same as a racial slur.

I personally feel that flag burning is as offensive as a racial slur.

Alright, I personally feel that makes as much sense as wearing a shoe on your head. Presumably there should be some logic behind it, but apparently not.

I love posting my opinions and watching them get ripped apart. Why can't I be offended by flag burning?

I love posting something reasonable and having people twist it to mean something else.

Let's get some things straight.
1. I did not say that you could or could not do anything.
2. I am objecting to the comparison between flag burning and racial slurs.
3. I made no comment on being offended by flag burning itself, only on the comparison.

Alright, I'll rephrase my question why do you find it so un-logical that I find flag burning as offensive as a racial slur?

One is discriminatory, backed by a very negative past including violence and serious consequences.

The other is merely a gesture against the government of a nation and its actions.

One is a personal affront to people, the other is a comment on their feelings towards a government and how it's acted.

You say that flag burning is a gesture towards the government, I see it as a gesture against the people of a nation. Because of this I get as offended as someone that has been the victim of a racial slur.

That makes little sense since people burn their own flag. Thus they clearly mean it as a message against the government. It would make no sense as a message against themselves.

Just because someone lives in a country doesn't mean that they identify with the people of that country. A man born in the US, UK, NZ or spain whose family are from say Afghanistan might see himself as Afghan nationality more than the nationality of his birth country. It's likely that residents burning the flag of their country don't want to be associated with that country.

 

[Storm Dragon]

A flag may represent a particular country, but burning one is nothing another way of saying "I hate the country that this flag belongs to". Whatever, man, it's just a piece of fabric with pretty colors on it.

I suspect that I may be an anomaly among Americans for this viewpoint.

 

[RamirezDoEverything]

Want to burn my flag? Go ahead. My nation is far superior to yours.

Amurca all day errday.

 

[Total LOLige]

I do take offense to flag burning, It's like calling a black man "a dirty ******" or a brown person "a paki bastard" except you're saying it to an entire country. I'm from the UK, I also object to the burning of anything that represents a culture so koran burning, bible burning, poppy burning is offensive. I'm not personally offended by bible or koran burning because I'm not a muslim or christian but it is disrespectful.

What? No it isn't. Those are other terms are discriminatory and have baggage behind them. Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

I didn't say flag burning was the same as burning religious texts.

Okay. Drop the religious part and that still leaves my issue with saying it's the same as a racial slur.

I personally feel that flag burning is as offensive as a racial slur.

Alright, I personally feel that makes as much sense as wearing a shoe on your head. Presumably there should be some logic behind it, but apparently not.

I love posting my opinions and watching them get ripped apart. Why can't I be offended by flag burning?

I love posting something reasonable and having people twist it to mean something else.

Let's get some things straight.
1. I did not say that you could or could not do anything.
2. I am objecting to the comparison between flag burning and racial slurs.
3. I made no comment on being offended by flag burning itself, only on the comparison.

Alright, I'll rephrase my question why do you find it so un-logical that I find flag burning as offensive as a racial slur?

One is discriminatory, backed by a very negative past including violence and serious consequences.

The other is merely a gesture against the government of a nation and its actions.

One is a personal affront to people, the other is a comment on their feelings towards a government and how it's acted.

You say that flag burning is a gesture towards the government, I see it as a gesture against the people of a nation. Because of this I get as offended as someone that has been the victim of a racial slur.

That makes little sense since people burn their own flag. Thus they clearly mean it as a message against the government. It would make no sense as a message against themselves.

Just because someone lives in a country doesn't mean that they identify with the people of that country. A man born in the US, UK, NZ or spain whose family are from say Afghanistan might see himself as Afghan nationality more than the nationality of his birth country. It's likely that residents burning the flag of their country don't want to be associated with that country.

You seriously think that every person who burns a flag in their own country thinks that way? I think you're really projecting your view of flag burning onto others and just trying to make it fit when it doesn't.

I didn't say all. For the record I don't agree with my government or what it's doing in the middle east, I'm not burning flags and I know a lot of people who feel the same and again they aren't burning flags.

 

[dyre]

Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

You say that like they're different things...

A nation stands for a certain set of ideals, just like a religion does. It's functionally equivalent to burn one or the other. I will agree with you on the language though, that's a bit different.

As I said above, I don't see it as offensive, simply because it's people blowing hot air. It's relatively rare for people to actually get along properly, and demonstrations of that distaste are far preferable to actual violence.

I think it's a little different, because people in the Middle East don't burn flags because the US stands for liberty and democracy and all that good stuff; they burn them because they don't like US interference with their region.

 

[Total LOLige]

I do take offense to flag burning, It's like calling a black man "a dirty ******" or a brown person "a paki bastard" except you're saying it to an entire country. I'm from the UK, I also object to the burning of anything that represents a culture so koran burning, bible burning, poppy burning is offensive. I'm not personally offended by bible or koran burning because I'm not a muslim or christian but it is disrespectful.

What? No it isn't. Those are other terms are discriminatory and have baggage behind them. Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

I didn't say flag burning was the same as burning religious texts.

Okay. Drop the religious part and that still leaves my issue with saying it's the same as a racial slur.

I personally feel that flag burning is as offensive as a racial slur.

Alright, I personally feel that makes as much sense as wearing a shoe on your head. Presumably there should be some logic behind it, but apparently not.

I love posting my opinions and watching them get ripped apart. Why can't I be offended by flag burning?

I love posting something reasonable and having people twist it to mean something else.

Let's get some things straight.
1. I did not say that you could or could not do anything.
2. I am objecting to the comparison between flag burning and racial slurs.
3. I made no comment on being offended by flag burning itself, only on the comparison.

Alright, I'll rephrase my question why do you find it so un-logical that I find flag burning as offensive as a racial slur?

One is discriminatory, backed by a very negative past including violence and serious consequences.

The other is merely a gesture against the government of a nation and its actions.

One is a personal affront to people, the other is a comment on their feelings towards a government and how it's acted.

You say that flag burning is a gesture towards the government, I see it as a gesture against the people of a nation. Because of this I get as offended as someone that has been the victim of a racial slur.

That makes little sense since people burn their own flag. Thus they clearly mean it as a message against the government. It would make no sense as a message against themselves.

Just because someone lives in a country doesn't mean that they identify with the people of that country. A man born in the US, UK, NZ or spain whose family are from say Afghanistan might see himself as Afghan nationality more than the nationality of his birth country. It's likely that residents burning the flag of their country don't want to be associated with that country.

You seriously think that every person who burns a flag in their own country thinks that way? I think you're really projecting your view of flag burning onto others and just trying to make it fit when it doesn't.

I didn't say all. For the record I don't agree with my government or what it's doing in the middle east, I'm not burning flags and I know a lot of people who feel the same and again they aren't burning flags.

If you don't deny that people burn flags don't all think that way then where's your point? Clearly there are people who burn it to protest the government.

And so what if they're not burning flags and you aren't? What's that supposed to prove?

Alright I've changed my mind all flag burners think that way. Why would someone burn a flag to piss of their own government, if they still wanted to identify with that countr? Why don't they protest using pickets and rallies?

 

[That_Sneaky_Camper]

The flag is just a symbol for the United States of America. Middle Eastern people burning it no more destroys my country or the ideals it stands for any more than an lunatic can blot out the sun by writing darkness on the wall of his insane asylum cell. In a way I actually find it kind of flattering as it takes a great deal of dedication to hate, I feel if our politicians and fellow American citizens loved our country as much as those people hate it then the USA would be a lot better off.

Now ideally I would wish they wouldn't burn the American flag as I view it to be a rather beautiful symbol but it isn't the end of the world if some Arab people burn 1 single flag as we have many more to replace that flag. As another poster said the U.S Military actually retires old flags by burning them, they are actually doing our country a favor ironically.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

snip of enemies burning flags

Nah. Fuck'em
It's only a problem if you burn your own flag. Otherwise, it's like getting mad at yo' momma jokes.

 

[Total LOLige]

I do take offense to flag burning, It's like calling a black man "a dirty ******" or a brown person "a paki bastard" except you're saying it to an entire country. I'm from the UK, I also object to the burning of anything that represents a culture so koran burning, bible burning, poppy burning is offensive. I'm not personally offended by bible or koran burning because I'm not a muslim or christian but it is disrespectful.

What? No it isn't. Those are other terms are discriminatory and have baggage behind them. Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

I didn't say flag burning was the same as burning religious texts.

Okay. Drop the religious part and that still leaves my issue with saying it's the same as a racial slur.

I personally feel that flag burning is as offensive as a racial slur.

Alright, I personally feel that makes as much sense as wearing a shoe on your head. Presumably there should be some logic behind it, but apparently not.

I love posting my opinions and watching them get ripped apart. Why can't I be offended by flag burning?

I love posting something reasonable and having people twist it to mean something else.

Let's get some things straight.
1. I did not say that you could or could not do anything.
2. I am objecting to the comparison between flag burning and racial slurs.
3. I made no comment on being offended by flag burning itself, only on the comparison.

Alright, I'll rephrase my question why do you find it so un-logical that I find flag burning as offensive as a racial slur?

One is discriminatory, backed by a very negative past including violence and serious consequences.

The other is merely a gesture against the government of a nation and its actions.

One is a personal affront to people, the other is a comment on their feelings towards a government and how it's acted.

You say that flag burning is a gesture towards the government, I see it as a gesture against the people of a nation. Because of this I get as offended as someone that has been the victim of a racial slur.

That makes little sense since people burn their own flag. Thus they clearly mean it as a message against the government. It would make no sense as a message against themselves.

Just because someone lives in a country doesn't mean that they identify with the people of that country. A man born in the US, UK, NZ or spain whose family are from say Afghanistan might see himself as Afghan nationality more than the nationality of his birth country. It's likely that residents burning the flag of their country don't want to be associated with that country.

You seriously think that every person who burns a flag in their own country thinks that way? I think you're really projecting your view of flag burning onto others and just trying to make it fit when it doesn't.

I didn't say all. For the record I don't agree with my government or what it's doing in the middle east, I'm not burning flags and I know a lot of people who feel the same and again they aren't burning flags.

If you don't deny that people burn flags don't all think that way then where's your point? Clearly there are people who burn it to protest the government.

And so what if they're not burning flags and you aren't? What's that supposed to prove?

Alright I've changed my mind all flag burners think that way. Why would someone burn a flag to piss of their own government, if they still wanted to identify with that countr? Why don't they protest using pickets and rallies?

Why wouldn't they burn it just to make a protest against their government? Why would it indicate that they don't want to identify with the country anymore? Why would they need to resort to pickets and rallies instead for that to be their message? You're asking why, but I'm seeing no reason to think they can't.

Flags don't represent governments they represent the people of the nation, so burning it implies that you hate the people of the nation. Rallies and pickets are less hostile than burning flags in city centres. If you think burning flags is an acceptable form of protest do you think pissing and shitting on war memorials is an acceptable form of protest against military occupation of a country?

 

[WaReloaded]

I acknowledge that flag burning could offend a certain demographic of people, but I personally do not find flag burning to be offensive as I'm not very patriotic or nationalistic.

 

[Total LOLige]

I do take offense to flag burning, It's like calling a black man "a dirty ******" or a brown person "a paki bastard" except you're saying it to an entire country. I'm from the UK, I also object to the burning of anything that represents a culture so koran burning, bible burning, poppy burning is offensive. I'm not personally offended by bible or koran burning because I'm not a muslim or christian but it is disrespectful.

What? No it isn't. Those are other terms are discriminatory and have baggage behind them. Burning a flag protests what the nation is doing. Burning a Koran or Bible protests the ideas they stand for.

I didn't say flag burning was the same as burning religious texts.

Okay. Drop the religious part and that still leaves my issue with saying it's the same as a racial slur.

I personally feel that flag burning is as offensive as a racial slur.

Alright, I personally feel that makes as much sense as wearing a shoe on your head. Presumably there should be some logic behind it, but apparently not.

I love posting my opinions and watching them get ripped apart. Why can't I be offended by flag burning?

I love posting something reasonable and having people twist it to mean something else.

Let's get some things straight.
1. I did not say that you could or could not do anything.
2. I am objecting to the comparison between flag burning and racial slurs.
3. I made no comment on being offended by flag burning itself, only on the comparison.

Alright, I'll rephrase my question why do you find it so un-logical that I find flag burning as offensive as a racial slur?

One is discriminatory, backed by a very negative past including violence and serious consequences.

The other is merely a gesture against the government of a nation and its actions.

One is a personal affront to people, the other is a comment on their feelings towards a government and how it's acted.

You say that flag burning is a gesture towards the government, I see it as a gesture against the people of a nation. Because of this I get as offended as someone that has been the victim of a racial slur.

That makes little sense since people burn their own flag. Thus they clearly mean it as a message against the government. It would make no sense as a message against themselves.

Just because someone lives in a country doesn't mean that they identify with the people of that country. A man born in the US, UK, NZ or spain whose family are from say Afghanistan might see himself as Afghan nationality more than the nationality of his birth country. It's likely that residents burning the flag of their country don't want to be associated with that country.

You seriously think that every person who burns a flag in their own country thinks that way? I think you're really projecting your view of flag burning onto others and just trying to make it fit when it doesn't.

I didn't say all. For the record I don't agree with my government or what it's doing in the middle east, I'm not burning flags and I know a lot of people who feel the same and again they aren't burning flags.

If you don't deny that people burn flags don't all think that way then where's your point? Clearly there are people who burn it to protest the government.

And so what if they're not burning flags and you aren't? What's that supposed to prove?

Alright I've changed my mind all flag burners think that way. Why would someone burn a flag to piss of their own government, if they still wanted to identify with that countr? Why don't they protest using pickets and rallies?

Why wouldn't they burn it just to make a protest against their government? Why would it indicate that they don't want to identify with the country anymore? Why would they need to resort to pickets and rallies instead for that to be their message? You're asking why, but I'm seeing no reason to think they can't.

Flags don't represent governments they represent the people of the nation, so burning it implies that you hate the people of the nation. Rallies and pickets are less hostile than burning flags in city centres. If you think burning flags is an acceptable form of protest do you think pissing and shitting on war memorials is an acceptable form of protest against military occupation of a country?

And where did that 'fact' come from? Where is it written in stone that flags don't represent governments, they represent people?

And maybe you should think before you speak. Pissing and shitting on public property in general is something to disallow. You're deliberately constructing a biased scenario where I have other reasons to disagree.

I could ask you the opposite of that question. Burning a flag pisses off the general population, I take that as evidence that flags represent people.
Do you object to the pissing and shitting on war memorials because it's public property or is it because it's disrespectful to the dead or both?

 

[Johann610]

On the one hand, yes, it disturbs me, greatly, to see people burn the flag. On the other hand, it's necessary. If we send up the flag as the symbol of our country, and value free speech, we must give citizens the right to burn the flag in protest. That's advanced Democracy.
The patriotic among us can also draw on the free-speech argument by counter-protesting by putting out flag fires or punching the protestors.

 

[RicoGrey]

As long as the flag burners practice safe flag burning procedures, which none are in those pictures, I have no issue with it.

Actually since I consider it a form of expression, and being an American, I would quite likely fight for someone's right to burn a flag, even if I disagreed with their opinion.

 

[Sexy Devil]

Not sure why I'm asking this. I was just watching a YouTube video of yet another example of Middle-Eastern people burning American flags. I know, right? It's so new and suprising.

But then it cut to somewhere in London where the local Muslims were burning a UK flag. I wasn't so much offended as I was confused. As in, why are they burning the flag of where they live? But I digress...Anyway, when I skimmed the comment section, as you do. I found a ton of what I assume to be Americans/British resident's crying out about how offensive flag burning is. I don't really care about the whole thing, hopefully that doesn't make me "unpatriotic" or whatever but there ya go.

However, this isn't about me (unfortunately). I want to know what others think. Hopefully a large chuck of Americans pop by, since they seem to take 'patriotism' more cereally than most.

Spoiler: Stuff like this

I think a lot of peoples' anger about this comes from the way that burning the flag of a country inherently implies that you hate everyone in it. And when someone says that they hate you then that's generally not cool.

For instance Australia has this thing called the tent embassy in Canberra, outside our old parliament house. It's basically just a bunch of Aboriginals getting mad and campaigning for reparations and stuff. So back on Australia Day in January, in order to show us how mad they were for some reason they had a big flag burning and made a nationally televised speech about how us whities are filthy immigrants and are inferior to them (that's a paraphrased version but I'm not joking, the idiots actually said that).

So yeah flag burning seems to get hatred because it's more a symbol of hating the inhabitants of the country rather than just the country itself.

 

[Dense_Electric]

It's a piece of fabric. If you want to burn it, go for it.

 

[thePyro_13]

With all the real problems in the world, I couldn't care less what happened to a piece of cloth.

 

[Astoria]

I think, like anything, it's the reason why they're burning it. They're doing it as a fuck you to the country so natural people will take offense to it. Burning the flag of the country you live in pisses me off but not because it's disrespectful, it's arrogant and self centred. It's like saying the whole country needs to change to suit our small group because we arn't happy. If you aren't happy then there's nothing stopping you from leaving.

 

[Ambient]

I don't care whatsoever. Burning is actually the only way to legally destroy our flag.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Its a flag... I don't know why people care so much about pointless symbols. I would be more upset about them burning an unused piece of paper. I mean that is actually useful.