Viewpoints
Is the US Flag the American
Koran?
By Stanley Arcieri
June 23, 2005
Thursday
Most of us are liberal enough
in spirit to feel it's excessive to consider the desecration
of the Bible or the Koran a literal crime against God. We know
the Koran is considered especially sacred in Islam. From our
cultural distance, we think the fierce concern around the physical
sacredness of any mere book, however holy in spirit, represents
a loss of balance. Some agree. Some disagree.
The Republican led US House of Representatives passed a resolution
by a 236-to-130 vote on June 22, 2005 calling for a constitutional
amendment that would make it a crime against the state to physically
"desecrate" the nation's flag. "Desecrate"
means to violate the sacred. We are in a rush to condemn others
for their religious beliefs while not looking soberly at our
own equally "sacred" secular beliefs
The flag is symbolically sacred because it guarantees freedom
of speech to all citizens. Americans have died defending that
freedom. We need to maintain our mental balance if we propose
to be an example of a special kind of freedom in the world.
Stanley Arcieri
Mill Valley, CA - USA
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