Persuasive Essay On Flag Protection

Flag protection, or making it a federal crime to deface the American flag, is the very definition of hypocrisy. It is by no means acceptable to deface the flag – in the same way it would be unacceptable to call other people names or insult religions – but freedom of speech must extend to the freedom to offend others, lest it no longer be freedom of speech, but only freedom to speak what the government wants to be spoken. This may start with a protection of the flag, but it will eventually result in a society of censorship. If the government is able to censor what is thought, spoken, or believed, then we are no better than countries who censor everything, and the experiment of America – that a society can be formed based on equal freedom for all – has failed.

Is accidental defacing of the flag to be a crime? In this case – would we be forced to go out of our way to ensure that the flag is taken care of properly under penalty of law? If a flag is falling out of a building, would we be forced to risk our lives to save the flag? Would tripping and dropping a flag send one to prison? In addition – what would count as a flag? Would my textbook, with a flag on page 702, have to be ceremonially buried in order to be destroyed? Would I not be able to throw away my old t-shirt with the flag on it? Would a burning building with a flag in every room make the owner liable for the loss to his country? If I had an image of the flag on my computer, would I have to leave it there permanently, or if I cleared off my hard drive would I be prosecuted? It is not as simple as saying that one cannot deface the flag – there are many logistical issues in preventing a flag from being