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From Magic City Morning Star R.P. BenDedek R.P. BenDedek (pseudonym) is a conversational English Teacher from Brisbane Australia, currently in China (Hubei Radio and TV University Wuhan), and writes for Magic City Morning Star News. In addition to his 'Stories from China', he is the author of 'The King's Calendar:The Secret of Qumran' at www.kingscalendar.com As an Australian I have nothing to say about the American Constitution and the First Amendment, but as a western foreigner living in a Communist country, the articles I have read today in, or linked to, the Magic City Morning Star News, leaves me wondering just how close my feelings towards Americans might be to the those feelings held by the Anti-American world. Come on guys! Are you all so stupid as to believe that the Anti-American world "actually understands" that there is a difference between the exercise of your "free speech" rights, and "patriotism?" I read Doug Wrenn's article entitled, Flag Burning: Free Speech Or Sedition? and thought it interesting. I then turned to read Free to Burn, by Uncle Grumpy and followed the link he provided to "Reason Online" and the article entitled "Abusing the Flag - The most fireproof idea in American politics flares up again," by Cathy Young. It seems to me, as an outsider, that everyone seems to agree that burning your flag is pretty obnoxious, but at the heart of the issue, is the first Amendment right of free speech. As an Aussie, I couldn't give a damn whether you or any other person of any nationality burnt a flag, yours, theirs or anyone elses. However, living in a Communist country, and arriving here just as the Invasion of Iraq was occurring, I have had to listen to a lot of students voicing their disgust at America. (Naturally since I am white and a foreigner, I am automatically considered American). In the Cathy Young article, it is reported that James H. Warner, a former Marine who spent six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese, recalled that a communist interrogator showed him a photo of American antiwar protesters burning a flag and told him that this proved his cause was wrong. Warner pointed out that it proved that he (Warner) was right, for in his country people are not afraid of freedom, even if it means that people disagree. I have used the same argument myself. My students pointed out that all the people in the west who were protesting the American Government's attack on Iraq PROVED that the American government was bad, and ought to be overthrown. I, of course, pointed out that if this were the case, then the people in Hong Kong who were protesting against the Beijing government were proving that the Beijing Government was bad and ought to be overthrown. It blew them away. My point here is that, in the non democratic countries, people are brainwashed to "love their motherland," to look down on the west, particularly upon America; and are constantly fed as much bad publicity coming out of America as possible. Freedom of Speech includes the freedom of speaking about your faith in God - Yes or No? The Answer is most definitely a Yes, but those who would say no, would tell us that we should not impose our personal beliefs on others. Not only does flag burning "impose" negative vibes on your fellow countrymen, but more importantly, it identifies you with all those others worldwide who do this to incite people to violence against America. Furthermore, every time the people of America act in any form of violence toward their own government, it speaks to the third world peoples, telling them that either the people of America are "unpatriotic" or, worse, that the American Government is "despotic," for only despotic regimes receive such massive violence directed against them. So my question is this. Is your personal freedom to protest the government, (legally and illegally) more important than the larger picture in which "YOU" want the world to believe that American ideals, principles and democracy are noteworthy, admirable and desirable? Somewhere in the New Testament, St. Paul (I think) said something to this effect, that although you now have 'LIBERTY', don't use your liberty as an EXCUSE FOR LICENTIOUSNESS! I personally find that the bigger the mouth shooting off about personal "freedoms and rights," the less in the long run, do they actually care about the bigger picture, and social cohesion. So while you may have the right to burn the flag, what does this tell the Anti-American world, about YOU as a person, and your Country as an admirable place in which to live? R.P.Bendedek Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com Note: Because of the recent Server change, some links may not work. This file was amended September 2007.
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