We Hold These Truths to Be Self Evident

By: Sean Howard

Come Monday, we here in this great nation of the United States will be celebrating the birth of our fine country, and I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this occasion than by showing a display of our inaliable rights as free, independant citizens than to burn the American flag in triumph. We truly live in a great nation with a fundamental philosophy without equal - that our right to express ourselves, even in defiance of our governing body, is the most sacred of our basic human rights. The freedom to think without fear. To love without fear. To worship without fear. I say that we give our thanks to such a fundamental truth as this by burning our country's sacred idol, not in anger but in pride. Burn that mother fucker to ash and reflect on what a great country this is... while you still can.
A bill has recently passed in the House that is so vile and corrupt that I stand here ashamed. They have passed a constitutional amendment which states simply that "Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." It hasn't passed the Senate yet, but apparently, 65 senators have publicly supported the bill, which is but two warm bodies from a victory. It is appearing very much that this amendment will be passed without effort just after this July 4th holiday, so I say, smoke 'em while you got 'em.
Well, screw the first amendment. What about the fourteenth? The one that states "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law". Well, screw that one too. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court just said that it's okay for the government to take away your land to give to corporations. If they decide that you house would look much better as a shopping mall, well, sucks to be you.
I've noticed recently that what I've been brought up to believe about the Constitution and how it is actually use are very different things. I've been lead to believe that these rules... this foundation... exists for one single purpose, and that is to protect the silent minority from the vocal majority. The First Amendment is there to say, if every God damned citizen of this entire country but you is a Christian, than you will be judged by an impartial belief that allows you to be treated as an equal. They can all think you are going to hell, and hate you for being different, but the government doesn't care. It won't prejudice against you.
We don't need to protect the majority. We need to protect the minority FROM the majority. Let's take an extreme example. Let's say that we go to war with another country. I know. Absurd, right? Let's say that an insignificant portion of our citizenry may have had parents from said country. There might be this immediate impulse of distrust - not because of who they are or what they've done, but because of a tenuous, yet obvious connection to our enemies. We might want to do something, like say, sieze their property, put them in jail without trial, burn down their place of worship, take away their ability to vote, or even prevent them from talking if they are going to say something "unamerican". But we don't do that. We can't do that. Because we've got this fancy Bill of Rights thing here which guarrantees each citizen basic rights.
This is because the majority tends to get a little too convinced of their own superiority. They think, hey, there's a lot of us. I mean, A LOT. Obviously, we wouldn't have this many people buying into our belief system if it wasn't right. So, if we're right and you disagree, that makes you wrong. I can't even begin to describe how silly this belief is - to belief in a "truth", not based on facts and debate, but in strength of numbers? Our Bill of Rights exists to prevent bullying from closing down discussion. No matter how much you don't want someone like me to talk about Evolution, the sad fact is, when there is no debate, we're all fucked.
I've noticed over the past few years that the silent minority has grown more silent. They've creeped away, always afraid of being sucker punched by bullies like Ann Coulter or Bill O'Reily. The debate shuts down because the mics get turned off, and decisions are no longer made by the person who makes the most intelligent insights, but by the person who commands the on/off switch. We've become a nation of bullies, hellbent on enforcing our majority's viewpoints upon, not only our country, but everyone else. Democracy? Ready or not, here it comes.
I get a lot of crap for writing these blogs - some of it I invite, while most of it, the ideas invite. You ARE an idiot if you don't think Evolution is true science. You ARE an asshole if you don't think gay people should have the right to marry (by the way, a shout out to Canada and Spain for doing the right thing). Abortion IS about the rights of the mother over the rights of a couple of dividing cells. Stem Cell research IS NOT evil. You do not need religion to be complete. Skepticism is the pathway towards the truth. Just because there are a lot of you, doesn't make you right. And burning the flag is the most patriotic thing anyone has ever done in this country.
I don't know about you guys, but I'll be out there Monday night, lighting fireworks and burning my American flag - because I love the ideals that this country stands for. The American flag is just a symbol. It doesn't mean anything unless you give it meaning, and what greater meaning can you give it than exercising your freedom to desecrate it. America is not holy. We do not worship our symbols. It might upset some people, but that's because they've given the symbol their own, fiercely personal meaning - one that I do not share or care to share. I may not be able to burn the flag come Tuesday, but come Monday, I'll be inhaling the smokey fumes of true freedom that few truly appreciate or understand.