The Flag-burning Debate Continues
Nazis captured Jim Rogers. He was routinely beaten and given barely enough food to survive. During the time he spent in a World War II prisoner of war camp, he managed to keep his sanity by scraping together bits and pieces of colored cloth in order to make an American flag. As his fellow prisoners began to die, it was his American flag which provided him with a sense of identity and gave him the inspiration to keep living.
It is no wonder, then, that Jim becomes disturbed when he turns on the news and sees our flag being burned in the streets of foreign nations. What disturbs him even more is when he sees the American flag being burned by Americans in America. In 1989, the Supreme Court overturned, in a 5-4 decision, a guilty verdict against a Texas flag-burner, claiming that burning the American flag is a form of free speech which is constitutionally protected. Yet the fact that flag-burning is legal does not ease Jim's angst, and apparently his feelings are shared by many of his fellow Americans. The majority of Americans are in favor of adopting a constitutional amendment that would make flag-burning illegal (Johnson 16).
After multiple attempts, a flag-burning amendment was finally approved by the House of Representatives in 1995, but it fell 3 votes short of approval in the Senate (Buckly 75). Still, lobbyists continue to push for anti-flag-burning legislation. One may wonder why, if the majority of Americans want the flag protected, does Congress and the Supreme Court continue to resist the idea of a flag amendment.
The easiest argument to make against protecting the flag is that burning it is a form of free speech which is protected by the First Ame...
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...y patriot," would answer, "Yes--it most certainly is." Arguments for and against a flag amendment, as is the case with most things in life, rest mainly upon subjective interpretations and points of view. Not until one side of the flag debate develops an irrefutable defense of their cause with this issue be settled; it will come as no surprise, then, if the flag-burning debate continues to rage for many years to come.
WORKS CITED
Buckley, William F. "On the Right." National Review 47. July 10, 1995: 75.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. "My Flag, Your Shorts." Time 1. July 3, 1995: 62.
Johnson, Adrian. "Value Judgments." Newsweek 26. June 25, 1990: 16-18.
Leo, John. "Oh, Say, Can You See . . . the Point?." U.S. News and World Report 119. July 10, 1995: 17.
Phillips, Robert S., ed. Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. New York: 1983.
To this day, Americans have many rights and privileges. Rights stated in the United States constitution may be simple and to the point, but the rights Americans have may cause debate to whether or not something that happens in society, is completely reasonable. The Texas v. Johnson case created much debate due to a burning of the American Flag. One may say the burning of the flag was tolerable because of the rights citizens of the United States have, another may say it was not acceptable due to what the American flag symbolizes for America. (Brennan and Stevens 1). Johnson was outside of his First Amendment rights, and the burning of the American flag was unjust due to what the flag means to America.
Free speech and the First Amendment rights do not give people lisence to desecrate a symbol of pride and freedom. It is not all right to protect those who let it burn, lighting up the sky with their hatred. It definitely is not acceptable to insult the men and women who fight every day to protect this nation by burning the symbol of their labors. Therefore, it is crucial that the Supreme Court pass the amendment to the Constitution to protect the flag of the US.
The colors red, white and blue did not have any real significance in America until their rights for freedom and territory were challenged. "The American flag played no significant role in American life until the Civil War, during the fight at Fort Sumter" (Goldstein 1). Then, to all northerners it became a symbol of pride and an object of "public adoration" (1). The flag was held in such high esteem that the Flag Protection Movement was created in 1890 so that there would be no commercialism of the object(2). The FPM felt as though politicians and merchants were "prostituting" the flag so, in 1900 they joined with the American Flag Association and made a set...
Due to Emma’s wealth and being a masculine figure in her household these effects ruptures her understanding of the possibilities and limitations placed on women. Born in ...
The Civil War was partly about slavery. Therefore, many use the flag as a symbol of hatred towards people of different descent, especially African Americans. The idea that “negro is not equal to the white man,” or white supremacy, has caused many racist attacks (Coates, 2015). Most of these attacks have involved the presence of a Confederate flag. Recently, Dylann Roof committed a gruesome attack on nine African American congregants at their local church during a bible study (Henderson, 2015). He claimed to have been motivated by the Confederate flag. Sadly, this violent attack provides a perfect example of the racism symbolically presented by the Confederate flag.
Abstract Several times in our nation's history, Congress has introduced a bill that would provide for banning flag desecration. Each time, however, the Supreme Court ruled that this act was protected by the First Amendment freedom of speech rights. The debate over this topic continues, with both sides arguing for "the good of the country."
Mary Pipher's "Saplings in the Storm" and William S. Pollack's "How U.S. Schools Are Stifling Male Students" are two writers that are very different but at the same time striving to get to the same goal which is to improve the lives of young children. They go about getting the same results two very different ways. Pipher is a female psychologist who concentrates on the adolescent development of females in today's society. Pollack is a male psychiatrist who writes about boys and the developmental stunting by schools in the United States. Their audience seems to be the same group of people, that off parents, but different kinds of people, parents with girls vs. parents with boys. This would point out that both writers seem to be trying to reach a friendly audience, but this is not apparent in the approaches they take.
Emma's arrogance shines through when she brags that she is exceptionally skillful at matching couples. She believes that she is in control of fate and must play matchmaker in order for couples to discover their true love. Austen confirms, "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself" (Austen 1). Although Emma is so spoiled and overbearing, she truly doesn't realize this fact.
Throughout this passage, Emma remembers her past, a time when she was more innocent and perhaps less preoccupied with her troubles. She remembers her time in the convent as a young girl (a time when she was happy and passionate about life). As time perished, she grew bored of the ordinary life of a student in a convent. At this point, stories of love and passion called to her more than ever.
Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her mother passed away at a young age, and her governess, Miss Taylor, became her best friend instead of an authority over her. At the start of the novel Miss Taylor gets married to Mr. Weston, leaving Emma with her despondent and hypochondriac father, Mr. Woodhouse. Although Mr. Woodhouse often confines Emma to the house because of his paranoia of her being harmed, he gives her little guidance. Emma becomes accustomed to being the "princess" of her house, and she applies this role to all of her social interactions, as she develops the ability to manipulate people and control them to advance her own goals. Emma views herself with the highest regard, and feels competition and annoyance with those who threaten her position. Emma has much resentment toward Mrs. Elton, as Mrs. Elton becomes a parody for Emma's mistakes and interactions. Mrs. Elton's attachment to Jane Fairfax is much like Emma's attachment to Harriet Smith; both Mrs. Elton and Emma attach themselves to young women and try to raise their...
Another form of Emma’s neglect is one of manipulation, mostly through her control over Harriet Smith. Emma is “willful, manipulative, an arranger or rather a misarranger of other people’s lives. Much of the time she fails to see things clearly and truly, and her self-knowledge is uncertain” (Goodheart)25. “One significant effect of harping on Emma's snobbery is to set in relief her romantic notions of Harriet's origin and destiny” (Brooke)26. Although to Harriet, Emma’s “help” to her is one that will reveal optimistic results and a proper husband, Harriet is incapable to taking up for herself against Emma, but if “[s]he would form her opinions...
Thesis Statement: The deadly virus Ebola is killing thousands of innocent people world wide, but there are some simple steps that are being taken to prevent this coming tide of death.
...ary 2014)”. The Ebola epidemic helps remind the U.S. That other nations are there to work with them, and unite to prevent a rapid growing disease. CDC partners with programs from other nations, such as the Global Disease Detection Centers, and the Field Epidemiology Training Program, which work to stop the Ebola virus. Information systems will grow stronger, more partnerships dedicated to stopping outbreaks will be formed and laboratory security will also grow. The writer of the paper cannot agree more to this.
Within the novel, Jane Austen’s exploits of irony are shown linked throughout Emma’s notions of love and the real within her own society. Emma’s lack of education on the concepts of love is quite evident within her apathy towards Frank Churchill as her opinions are deeply rooted within her own affections, as she states, “Emma continued to entertain no doubt of her being in love. Her ideas only varied as to the how much. At first, she thought it was a good deal; and afterwards, but little. She had great pleasure in hearing Frank Churchill talked of; and for his sake, greater pleasure than ever in seeing Mr. and Mrs. Weston; she was very often thinking of him. But, on the other hand, she could not admit herself to be unhappy, nor, after the first morning, to be less disposed for employment than usual; she was still busy and cheerful; and, pleasing as he was, she could yet imagine him to have faults,” (Austen 264). Emma’s sketch of Harriet is another illustration of irony surrounded by Emma’s arrogance as it does not portray an accurate depiction of Harriet as Emma has altered ...
In Jane Austen's Emma the eponymous heroine is "handsome, clever, and rich" but she also suffers from arrogance and self-deception. With the good judgement of Mr Knightley, and her own self scrutiny, Emma experiences a movement of psyche, from arrogance and vanity through the humiliation of self knowledge to clarity of judgement and fulfilment in marriage. The tone of the novel and the episodes where Emma is self deceived progresses from the light comedy of Mr Elton's gallantry and the eventual mortification to the sombre depression of Emma's belief that she has ruined her own chances of happiness by bringing Mr Knightley and Harriet together. Although at times the reader is able to laugh at her mistakes, as she moves slowly and uncertainly to self knowledge and maturity, the reader, like Mr Knightley, comes to take her seriously, for in the novel serious moral and social issues are dealt with, issues which directly concern her. While we may be 'put off' by her mistakes, and flights of illogical fancy, these are also the very qualities which endear her to us.