Melkor

There is no such thing as "absolute right". Rights do not come at the expense of others.

Ultron

I disagree.

The teacher is able to restrict that activity since the action isn't protected by the law and she has the authority to limit student activity. If it _was_ protected, then she wouldn't have the law on her side in this issue.

I don't see the difference between whether or not it's a public or private school. Civil rights are protected in public as well as in private.

Yes and I'm going to stand down on that scenario because you and I at least agree that the danger of such a fire outweighs the freedom of symbolic expression/speech you and I disagree on hehe.

Which is why I wanted to use the point of an image instead. Since there is no danger from using an image in that same circumstance, an example of pr0n or grotesquery would suffice. With no risk of danger or implied threat, does one student have the right to display a flag with such things on it in the same situation? Couldn't the teacher (or govt) prevent the person from displaying that image in that school cafeteria?

Agreed. You and I might disagree about the legal nature of speech we agree that whatever that is, doesn't outrank the safety of others.

Doh ran out of time. But you and I are on the same wavelength here.

I gotta leave work anyways. Take care!

(poof)

beyelzu

you might want to check out his other posts, I have discussed several issues with him. I do not base my opinion on only this issue. as I have said before, I dont just call everyone who disagrees with me antiamerican. but kreiger is.

excreationist

I think it would be more offensive to defecate on the flag... or as Milhouse once did - vomit on it. I think burning effigies are pretty offensive but I don't find it offensive for people to burn flags.

Sue Sponte

I find it disturbing that someone would consider another "Anti-American" merely based on his BELIEFS. If dissident views aren't American, what the heck are they???

I may not agree with the substance, but as long as the person is not causing harm to anyone else, it is quintessentially "American" to exercise the right to express contrarian views.

You may wish to read some of the writings of the authors of the U.S. Constitution to get a sense for how strongly they believed that dissident speech would serve to promote, rather than compromise, the strength of this country.

VonEvilstein

Anyways, I cannot help but feel a smug sense of pride, deep down, when I get called anti-American. Coming from the kind of people who sling the phrase about as thought it were an insult, or something, being the antithesis to what such morons stand for, is something akin to a badge of honour...

So you people, and you know who you are, can take your anti-Europeanism, and stick it somewhere where the celestial body of your choice can no longer be observed.

seanie

Ah.

You'll be one of those delusional, snivelling, cowardly, anti-American Europeans craving to live under a militant Islamic theocracy.

Three-Three

Buried to the hilt, eh?

C'mon cuz. You know you wants to be like we-ins. You got the
Rock-n-Roll, and the H-Bomb, and the Levi jeans...Hell, you even speak *our* language! (Although, at one time, you were dangerously close to switching to Deutch.)

I've always felt that the Empire took a lot of crap for colonialism. Bringing civilization to the heathen was a thankless task.

If y'all keep playing nice, we'll make y'all the 51st state!

And then, you too, can (once again) take the blame for every thing wrong in the world.

Ut

Let's say I invite you an afternoon in my backyard and you start to burn the flag. I have the right to expel you from my backyard. Instead, you start to eat a cheeseburger. Again, I have the right to expel you. Instead, you simply express some political opinion on Bush and I still have the right to expel you.

The fact is: you have no right to be in my backyard. I simply have granted you a temporary privilege to be there and I am free to revoke it at any moment for any reason. In no way can you claim that I am violating your freedom of speech or any other freedoms by expelling you. I'm simply exercising my rights over my private property.

There's your difference between private and public. The student has no right to be on the premise of a private organization.

Of course, rights are never absolute. They can't be, for there would then be no way to resolve a conflict should two different rights clash.

However, the fact that one right can under some circumstances trump another right does not mean that it can trump it under any circumstances or that this right doesn't exist or isn't protected.


In a private school, the school could force the student to wear an uniform and could then object to a student wearing a T-shirt, not belonging to the uniform, with a plain flag.

Now in a public school, the student has a right to display an image of a desecrated flag on his T-shirt if he wishes. That does not mean he can places himself above other laws and display pornographic images. There are reasons to not display pornography in a place where minors study. The issue here is not the display of the flag, the issue here is the display of pornography directed at minors.

Yes.

To give an absurd example of clashing rights, consider the murder of JFK. Lee Harvey Oswald could have claimed that he was simply expressing his disapproval for the President's policy. He could have claimed that he was simply following the precepts of some obscure religion he adhered to. His conviction would have neither been a violation of his freedom of speech or of his freedom of religion, for he would have convicted anyway if he had killed JFK for a reason unrelated to speech or religion (e.g. for profit). You don't get a free card to violate the rights of everyone by screaming "freedom of speech", "freedom of religion" or "freedom of press".

Now, if you arrest someone for burning a flag, but not for burning a cloth, it's clearly not the act of burning tissue you're object to, but rather the political expression. If you arrest someone for kneeling toward the Mecca but not for simply kneeling, it's clearly not kneeling you're objecting, but rather the freedom to practice Islam.

Three-Three

Alright. I want details. When did the Dickster blow chunks on a flag? ...or are you refering to Milhouse in "The Simpsons."