Collection 1: "American Flag Stands for Tolerance" by Ronald J. Allen

The American flag is a cherished symbol of our national aspirations.

Given the widespread and deeply felt reverence for this symbol of what we perceive to be the best of our civilization, what is the harm in insisting upon a modicum of respect for it?

After all, no one can seriously equate a prohibition on flag burning with the imposition of governmental orthodoxy in political speech.

After all, no one can seriously equate a prohibition on flag burning with the imposition of governmental orthodoxy in political speech.

Any messages that burning the flag might convey easily can be communicated in other ways.

If not rebutted, they compel the conclusion that the Supreme Court was wrong in its decision.

Indeed, a decision contrary to the one reached would have been a definitive step away from our national aspirations.

What most distinguishes our civilization from both its predecessors and its contemporary competitors is a belief in the sanctity of the human conscience.

A concomitant of the commitment to freedom of conscience, in a sense its mirror image, is that no one has better access to truth than anyone else.

Official dogma is not better (perhaps no worse) than the beliefs of private citizens.

The dissenters in the flag-burning case and their supporters might at this juncture note an irony in my argument.

The dissenters in the flag-burning case and their supporters might at this juncture note an irony in my argument.

But how is that admittedly dogmatic belief different from any other dogma, such as the one inferring that freedom of expression stops at the border of the flag?

After all, it is in robust debate that we are most true to ourselves.