Better than this

There are worse ways of desecrating the American flag than burning it.

Consider these LSU students for instance.

This protest took place last year. The student at the center of the protest is a fellow by the name of Ben Haas. Haas had put up a post on Facebook alerting students that he was going to exercise his First Amendment Rights by staging a flag burning and reading something he wrote about due process. Haas was upset because a friend had been arrested after reportedly climbing atop the War Memorial at the University and taking the flag from there, in protest of the Navy Seals killing Osama Bin Laden.

Here’s what Haas had written about all that:

I initially began this flag burning protest to define due process for students and suspected terrorists alike, to call on LSU and universities across the country to defend basic human rights and avoid putting students into the criminal justice system when it can be taken care of internally.

Solidarity means standing with those who are treated as guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around. That’s what freedom is, standing with those who express their constitutional rights in ways that may be unpopular, especially the accused and the marginalized no matter the consequences.

In the name of peace, there will be no flag burning today. This country and the flag that flies over it stands for freedom, democracy, love, peace and the ability to question our government.

I initially began this flag-burning protest to defend due process for students and suspected terrorists alike; to call on LSU and universities across the country to defend basic human rights and avoid putting students into the criminal justice system when it can taken care of internally.

Solidarity means standing with those who are treated as guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around. That’s what freedom is: standing with those who express their constitutional rights in ways that may be unpopular especially the accused and the marginalized, no matter the consequences.

In the name of peace, there will be no flag burning today. This country and the flag that flies over it stands for freedom, democracy, love, peace and the ability to question our government.

But today, it feels like it’s just about hate and violence, I have received more than 100 threats on my life and on the lives of those I care about. but I also received numerous calls of support from those who agreed with me, military veterans, and even those who said they disagreed with the method I proposed but wanted to show me their support, and for that I am thankful.

We can be better than this. We may disagree on what forms of dissent are appropriate and what the proper forums are to voice them, but the important thing is that we come together and defend the right to dissent at all, especially when this country has asserted its ability to declare anyone an enemy who has a different opinion than the majority.

I feel what is missing most from the United States is a sense of community, love, and acceptance of the differences we may have about issues in the world. If I had one wish for today, it would be to make the world a more peaceful place.

Peace.”

That’s what he attempted to read, only all those Saints wouldn’t let him.

Let me say, I understand why those LSU students were upset. If somebody took a can of red paint and threw it at the Vietnam Memorial Wall as a means of protesting the death of Osama Bin Laden, I might be tempted to open up the can of whoop ass. As it is, I get upset enough when people go by those names smoking their cigarettes, talking on their cell phones, and generally not treating the site as the sacred ground it is to me.

Still.

Chanting USA does not make you a better patriot.

Waving a flag does not make you a better American.

Shouting down others as they attempt to exercise the free speech that is one of the hallmark principals of this country only makes one an ass, not a better citizen.

It’s too bad that self-righteous mob didn’t stop to hear what Haas had to say:

Solidarity means standing with those who are treated as guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around. That’s what freedom is, standing with those who express their constitutional rights in ways that may be unpopular, especially the accused and the marginalized no matter the consequences.

As hard as it may be to consider, especially for those of us who have lost loved ones in freedom’s fight, sometimes burning the flag is the most American thing you can do.

Shouldn’t our allegiance and patriotic fervor be reserved for the principles of this country and not solely to its symbols?