I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
And to the republic for which it stands,
One nation, under God, indivisible
With liberty and justice for all.
Some things bear repeating. Today more Americans are taking the time to pledge allegiance to the flag, the symbol of this country, than at any time in recent history. The red, white and blue of the stars and stripes are a reminder of the sacrifices of the brave men and women, who, down through the years, have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom which, until recently, far too many of us took for granted.
The image of firefighters carrying the flag-draped body of one of their fallen comrades who rushed in to save the occupants of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, will forever be etched in our memories. It is no accident that the flag is placed over the coffins of those who have died so that others might live, then folded ceremoniously and given to the next of kin. It is a symbol of the gratitude of a grateful nation.
The flag is much more than a piece of brightly colored cloth. It stands for the struggle for independence, the preservation of the union and the values on which it was established. The flag is the symbol of the unity and the honor of this nation and the people who live in it, both individually and collectively.
When we recite the pledge of allegiance, we are pledging to love, honor and protect the flag at all costs. We cannot love something which we are not prepared to protect – the two go hand in hand. Those who say they love the flag, but it’s all right to burn her or trample on her or defecate on her are on shaky ground. Pat Boone once compared this to saying, “I love my mother, but it’s OK to bat her around.” Those words have meaning.
In 1989, five members of the Supreme Court tried to tell us that burning the flag, or any other act of desecration, was the same as speech, and thus protected under the First Amendment to our Constitution. This misguided act wiped out the states’ right to protect her, a right previously defended by four chief justices and other justices on five Supreme Courts in the last century. It is a decision that has begged to be overturned.
Those five justices on the ’89 Supreme Court tried to tell us that an act of flag desecration was “implied” speech. However, if an action like burning the flag is protected speech, and thus defensible under the First Amendment, then why isn’t prayer? The same people who defend flag desecration, work equally as hard to prevent prayer in schools and other public places.
Speech is the act of talking, moving your lips to form words. Words also can be written with a pen, computer or, in the case of sign language, with the fingers. The words we speak have definitions that have stood the test of time and clearly are understood by all.
That is why the first 10 Amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added to the Constitution before it could be ratified. Those responsible for setting up our system of government felt it was important to clearly articulate the rights that the original framers only had implied.
The majority of people in the country clearly did not understand the Supreme Court’s ’89 decision on flag desecration. Shortly after it was handed in, a grass-roots movement began to overrule the Court through the amendment process, a process designed by the founders to protect us from tyranny.
The process of amending the Constitution was not meant to be easy. An amendment requires a two-thirds vote in each House of Congress before it can be passed on to the states. Then it must be ratified by three-fourths of our states. As difficult as it is, our founding fathers felt it was an important process – a process to ensure that the judicial branch of our government never can overpower the other two.
The right of the states to protect the flag by statute is a right now demanded by 80 percent of the people, for which 49 states have petitioned Congress.
On July 17, 2001, the 107th House of Representatives passed H.J. Res. 36 298 to 125. However, S.J. Res. 7, which was introduced in the Senate in March, remains bottled up.
Why does Majority Leader Tom Daschle keep it bottled up? Perhaps he is afraid it would pass. Now that Americans are displaying the flag with pride, isn’t it time to ensure that she is protected?
