Chistian Flag Flown Over National Flag - Pandemonium Doesn't Ensue

A few thoughts about the American flag, specifically. Americans do (and should, in my opinion) take pride in the American flag. Granted, maybe we go a little overboard with it. Reverence for this particular flag is in large part due to the circumstances under which the nation it represents was born and how quickly it has risen to a nation of international influence. In the United States, the American Flag should be flown first and it should be flown highest, and here are my reasons for feeling this way.

In the earliest of its days, the flag represented the union of 13 separate colonies in a battle against a common enemy. 13 stars, 13 stripes. Everyone equally represented. It was a stand against imperial power of the time. George Washington carried it across the Potomac during the pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War.



Years later during the War of 1812 it became the subject of a poem that eventually became the National Anthem, aptly named the 'Star Spangled Banner'. It was a symbol of defiance in the face of a massive military onslaught that inspired men to continue fighting throughout the night in defense of their fort.

It was carried into battle, dropped, and picked up again countless times during the Civil War, often along side the Stars & Bars of Robert E. Lee's battle flag. Union or Confederate, there was a loyalty to that flag.

It traveled west with the settlers of the new frontier and it was carried to the top of San Juan Hill by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish American War.

It became the subject of a Pledge of Allegiance that was once recited daily in classrooms across America, though not so much anymore.

In the years since its inception, the American Flag in its various iterations has been planted on beaches and hilltops across the globe as a symbol of freedom, including the beaches of Tripoli, Normandy and the top of Iwo Jima. It sank into the waters of Pearl Harbor on the back of the USS Arizona and it rode the first atomic bomb to be used against a civilian population just a few years later.



It was the first flag to the North Pole and the first and only flag on the surface of the moon. It has been on the side of probes that have left the solar system entirely and it was on the shoulders of seven astronauts who were killed when the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded.



It has also been seen as a symbol of imperialism and tyranny through conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It has become a target of symbolic gestures of protest and hate for the country it represents. It has been stomped, torn, and burned.

It was lost in the rubble of the World Trade Center, only to be raised again.



And all of this in just 240 or so years of existence. What this flag has been witness to is unparalleled in human history. Whether you believe this flag represents something good, bad, or you are indifferent, the significance of the role it has played in modern history should not be minimized.

The freedom this flag represents is the very freedom being enjoyed by those who choose to disrespect this flag as a form of protest. It is not about God before Country or vice versa. It is about recognizing that your message of protest only has power because the symbol you are using to represent what you are protesting has an equal measure of power. Love it or hate it, the symbolic power of the American Flag cannot be denied.

CRS Report for Congress
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
The United States Flag: Federal Law Relating to Display and Associated Questions

7 (c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the
flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval
chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church
services for the personnel of the Navy.


_{491 U.S. 397 (1989). For further information on this case, see,
CRS Report 89-394, Texas v. Johnson: Flag Desecration and the First Amendment}
[hr]

http://www.senate.gov/CRSReports/crs-publish.cfm?pid=%270E%2C*PLS%3F%22%20%20%20%0A


[hr]


When I see people do things like this it doesn't make me think, "oh they're disrespecting the flag." I shake my head and wonder what would posses a person to do it? Do they not understand proper flag etiquette? I'm sure most people wearing American flag tie and shirts and what ever else someone has plastered "Old Glory" on to turn a buck have no idea that is improper flag etiquette. Shoot, they probably do it to show their pride!?!?

There was a guy in a neighborhood I used to live in that started flying his flag upside down. At first I thought it was some kind of message to creditors or the IRS or something similar that is house/household was under distress. But no, he was making a political statement.

As much as I can find laws and rules and etiquette for flying flags, I can find no penalty for not dong it right. I can only assume that is because the people that made it all up wanted there to be a set way of doing things. An order to the chaos so to say. Because contrary to what many enthusiast seem to believe we do have the liberty to fly the flag how ever we choose; burn it, wear it as a cape on stage while performing... pretty much what ever. Proper flag etiquette is for us to show that we care. Not something to be force on others.

I'm personally against public religious displays of any sort, religion or denomination. As such, I don't like the idea of flying religious flags - the only reason why anyone would fly such a flag is telling others how righteous he / she is. The act alone disqualifies the person / institution / country from actually being righteous.

Cyan Sarden wrote: I'm personally against public religious displays of any sort, religion or denomination. As such, I don't like the idea of flying religious flags - the only reason why anyone would fly such a flag is telling others how righteous he / she is. The act alone disqualifies the person / institution / country from actually being righteous.

This is not only untrue, it has no basis in logic.

It does create a bit of pandemonium and judgement within me.

What is called "The christian flag" is a misnomer. It is only representative of a segment of Christianity.

So when he flies his faith flag, a misrepresentation in itself, over the Amercan flag to make a statement to put his nation under his faith . . it is annoying, a bad example for children, and far more political than spiritual or religious in any respect.

My sentiments have nothing to do with christian or christianity. It has everything to do with false representations.

Mareeka wrote: It does create a bit of pandemonium and judgement within me.

What is called "The christian flag" is a misnomer. It is only representative of a segment of Christianity.

So when he flies his faith flag, a misrepresentation in itself, over the Amercan flag to make a statement to put his nation under his faith . . it is annoying, a bad example for children, and far more political than spiritual or religious in any respect.

My sentiments have nothing to do with christian or christianity. It has everything to do with false representations.

You raise some very good points. Something for me to meditate on.

Mareeka wrote: What is called "The christian flag" is a misnomer. It is only representative of a segment of Christianity.

This is wrong on two levels.

1) The "representative...segment" of Christianity that uses this flag is literally any Christian church who feels like it. It's scattered throughout Christian churches (most, but not all, of which are Protestant) the world over, even among denominations that have their own denominational flag.

2) It's literally called "the Christian flag." That is it's name. So even if it weren't representative of all Christendom, it's still called "the Christian flag" because that's what they named it. You can argue it's not appropriate all you want, but nobody is wrong for calling it by its name.

So when he flies his faith flag, a misrepresentation in itself, over the Amercan flag to make a statement to put his nation under his faith . . it is annoying, a bad example for children, and far more political than spiritual or religious in any respect.

Free speech can be annoying. It can be very annoying. That's why we have a Constitutional amendment protecting it.

Also, I fail to see how it's a bad example for children. It's showing a peaceful means of protest against the government. It isn't advocating violence, just a harmless level of civil disobedience, which (in case you've forgotten) is kind of the American Way. I mean, we are a country born out of the blood of rebellion.

We also all know it's political. They aren't fooling anybody. That still doesn't invalidate their ability to do as they wish in this case. If they're choosing to do this as a political maneuver to protest some ill they think the government has wrought upon their church, they're within their rights to do so.

And no amount of this:

makes it any less acceptable.

ren wrote:

Connor L. wrote: Um... the flag is our symbol of freedom. Quite literally.

Isn't it the opposite though? _{(nation on earth with the highest proportion of its population being in jail and stuff...)}

In my short time here already, Ive come to feel like the population in general, incarcerated or not lacks any real freedom. But if you repeat a statement enough times and with enough force and emotional investment it will eventually be taken as fact.

On one hand, I can understand the issue folks would have in regards to the whole 'flying the christian flag over American flag' thing. It's extraordinarily disrespectful to loads of people, and is in poor taste.

The message behind this act is weak as well. This guy complains about separation of church and state, about their not being prayer in schools and all that jazz, but how would he feel if the state began teaching the Koran instead of his good ol' KJV? I imagine that wouldn't go very well with him and the rest of his brethren. Church and state are separated for good reason, so that others of differing faiths aren't alienated.

Oh, and his little comment on the pledge was pretty asinine. There wasn't always 'in God we trust' in the pledge of allegiance; President Eisenhower added that little tid-bit in back in 1954 at the behest of his pastor back when the "godless communist" threat was looming overhead from the Soviet Union and China.

...but on the other hand, it's just a bloody flag. It's not on state/federal land, so it's completely within his right to do so. It just makes him look like a tool.

So, whatever. :silly:

To post 197344:

To #1) Representation refers to naming a flag something it is not. Just because it was named that, does not mean that is what it is. Just because any christian sect is welcomed to use it doesn't mean they do. There are certain symbols that would be familiar to all christians. This flag is not one.

#2) misnomer means inappropriately named, That it is, regardless of how widely accepted it is by Protestants and that it is offered to non-protestant Christians.

Free speech is not in question. The annoyance was the misnaming of the Christian Flag and its implications.

Based on the justifications he gave for his actions, then, why does he not simply fly a flag that says "God"? I am sure why a misnomered flag is necessary.

Regarding children, give them the facts, encourage them to do research, teach them to look before they leap . .etc. The pastor may not have intended any of this.