The Flag Burning Debate ContinuesThe Nazis captured Jim Rogers. He was regularly beaten and given barely enough food to survive. During his time in a World War II prison camp, he managed to maintain his sanity by scraping together pieces of colored fabric to create an American flag. When his fellow prisoners began to die, it was his American flag that provided him with a sense of identity and gave him the inspiration to continue living. It's no wonder, then, that Jim feels troubled when he turns on the news and sees our flag burning in the streets of foreign nations. What disturbs him even more is when he sees the American flag burned by Americans in America. In 1989, the Supreme Court overturned, in a 5-4 decision, a guilty verdict against a Texas flag burner, holding that burning the American flag is a constitutionally protected form of free speech. However, the fact that burning flags is legal does nothing to ease Jim's anguish, and his feelings are apparently shared by many of his countrymen. A majority of Americans support passing a constitutional amendment that would make flag burning illegal (Johnson 16). After multiple attempts, a flag burning amendment was finally passed by the House of Representatives in 1995, but fell short by 3 votes. of approval in the Senate (Buckly 75). However, lobbyists continue to push for anti-flag burning legislation. You might wonder why, if a majority of Americans want the flag protected, Congress and the Supreme Court continue to resist the idea of ​​a flag amendment. The simplest argument to make against protecting the flag is that burning it is a form of free speech. which is protected by the First Ame... half document... your patriot," would reply, "Yes, it certainly is." Arguments for and against a flag amendment, as it is In the case of most things in the life, are based primarily on subjective interpretations and views. Not until one side of the flag does the debate develop an irrefutable defense of their cause will it be a surprise, then, if the flag-burning debate continues to rage for many years to come. WORKS CITED Buckley, William F. “On the Right.” July 10, 1995: 75.Ehrenreich, Barbara “My Flag, Your Shorts.” June 25, 1990: 4-6pm. Leo, John “Oh, tell me, can you see. . . the point?." US News and World Report 119. 10 July 1995: 17.Phillips, Robert S., ed. Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. New York: 1983.