We take this position not out of disrespect for the flag. Quite the contrary. Many of our members fought for our country and we love the flag because of the principles for which it stands. We are as deeply offended as anyone when the flag is desecrated.
But we are not offended by flag desecration because we object to a piece of cloth being burned. Burning a flag is not simply a physical act -- it is a powerful symbolic act. That is why it offends so deeply. It is unquestionably a form of speech. When someone desecrates a flag, they are saying they despise the actions and principles of the US government. But the First Amendment protects their right to say this, and we should all be forever grateful that it does.
During the past 206 years, we have not tampered with the Bill of Rights and it has well protected the freedom we treasure. The First Amendment is freedom's keystone. To enfeeble it now is to invite disaster. Other amendments would follow, excepting other forms of unpopular speech. Hate speech, pornography, and depictions of violence would be the first to go. Expressing "unpatriotic" ideas would follow. But it would not stop there. Eventually, only the most politically popular speech would be protected, and the First Amendment would effectively be repealed.
There's a Buddhist maxim: One must never mistake a finger pointing to the moon for the moon itself. One must never mistake the flag for that which it represents. The Flag Desecration Amendment would succeed only (if at all) in protecting a few pieces of cloth. But the flag would no longer stand for anything to cherish because its underlying principles would have been desecrated irreversibly.
Robert B. Chatelle, Co-Chair, Political Issues
Committee
February 3, 1997