Three articles from alternet

[conuly]

One aboug flag worship.

Now, longtime readers of my journal know what I think about the Pledge of Allegience. Indeed, I suspect that I'll have to type up a whole new rant about it soon. Non-longtime readers of my journal can probably guess my general feelings on the subject just based on context, even if they don't know the specifics.

Let's have a new rant for a short time. Most people who support laws or constitutional amendments about the treatment of the flag think of themselves as patriotic Americans. So patriotic, in fact, that they hold a symbol, a flag, in higher regard than one of the basic tenets of American society - the right to freedom of expression. Except, I've noticed something about many of these people. They display their flag proudly - And go out of their way to violate the flag code as they do it. You know, that thing which outlines the proper and respectful way to handle a flag. They let the flag touch the ground. They keep it up all day, every day, unlit at night. They keep it up in all weather, and when it finally becomes so tattered and torn that even they realize it can't be recognized as a flag anymore - they toss it in the trash! (The proper way to dispose of a flag is, of course, to burn it. Or possibly to bury it, but I love telling people that good Americans burn flags.) Oh, and they do a bunch of other things.

I myself think of the flag as a simple symbol when I'm in a good mood and a waste of cloth when I'm not, but I'm not the one being a hypocrite here.

Okay, that rant was random. But man, it pisses me off sometimes.

There's also an article about Iraq.

And one about a PBS documentary on how a kid turns from being very conservative to... well, go read. This is why they want to remove funding from PBS, you know.

Comments

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

Argh, I totally agree on the flag thing! These people hold a symbol in such high regard, yet they can't even respect that symbol that they hold so dear... it makes no sense.

It's as bad as the people who idolize the Ten Commandments, obviously forgetting all about the second one (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020:4;&version=31;) in the process.

[conuly]

Which set of Ten Commandments?

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

The people that clamor to have the Commandments displayed in public places, like Justice Roy Moore in Alabama, always seem to be referring to the set that includes the prohibition against graven images.