Fly Your Flag

It may not seem like a big deal. In the aftermath of the shootings in South Carolina almost everyone wants their flag, which is the Confederate battle flag, gone. When the issue first came up, I thought it was a non-issue. It’s the flag of a losing side in a long-ago war. It’s the flag of people that wanted to keep slaves. Since the war, the flag has served racist organizations and “good old boys”. I could care less about having a Confederate flag.

The entire Confederate flag issue is far removed from us, and has no real affect on our lives. Am I correct in that thought? No, I’m not correct.
Then, as I thought about it, how can we dictate another person’s symbols? To some, the Confederate flag stands for the sanctity of the state over the federal government. For others, it’s a sign of Southern pride that they seem to have plenty of. Others see the Confederate flag as a “Dukes of Hazard” type of redneck independence. You may have one because you like the pretty colors and really dig stars and bars.

I’m seeing the Confederate flag as a freedom of speech issue. I have the right to say what I want. You don’t have to like it. I make a statement by what symbols I choose, and that is my right. With the state being made of individuals, if enough want the flag to be their state flag, then it should be so. If you don’t like my speech, or my symbols you can ignore them or go away. It’s your choice.

So major retailers have jumped on the wagon and will no longer sell that flag. We can choose who we buy from, and what we buy. If we feel strongly enough about the issue, we can stop giving our money to businesses that oppose our views.

With all of that being said, it gets tiresome that groups try to dictate what everyone does. It gets tiresome that the thought police have to impose the current political correctness on us. They really do believe that they know what is best, and we are too stupid to make even the most mundane decisions on our own.

The attack on symbols is an attack on people. We are the people under attack.
Most of us hold the American flag dear. It is also under attack. Our favorite activist Louis Farrakhan has already started attacking the stars and stripes. He says that the flag must be “put down” because people have suffered under it even more than they’ve suffered under the Confederate flag.

Some neighborhoods try to restrict the American flag because someone may be offended. Even our local Walmart carries very few of our flags, and usually hides them in the corner in the bowels of the store.

With most of us being Christian, we have a deep reverence for the cross. It has been under attack for as long as I can remember. The people that regulate the rest of us have a pretty good record of limiting cross displays. It’s well documented that every aspect of Christianity is under attack, and that attack on the symbol is just part of it. Even Bibles are forbidden in some venues.

By attacking a person’s symbols, you attempt to outlaw the person. By outlawing symbols you outlaw a certain way of thinking and acting. By outlawing a way of life you eliminate the people that live that way.

I had a sociology professor that taught that when we brought Chinese over to build our railroads, they brought their way of life and their opium. When we finished with them, they were still here and we didn’t like it. We outlawed opium to outlaw Chinese. The same thought processes apply to many of us today. We are slowly being outlawed.

Here’s how I think it should go. Suppose my daughter brings home a guy in a leather jacket with a big swastika tattoo on his neck. I don’t like him on a great number of levels. I tell him I’m offended by him but I don’t hold him down and try to remove his tattoo. He may think I’m a jerk but he doesn’t expect me to learn to like his tattoo. It’s his right to have the tattoo, and my right not to like it. We hopefully go our separate ways and that’s the end of it.

We have to quit giving up our way of life and its symbols. We have a right to be. They have a right to be. As my least favorite son-in-law once told me, “I’m a grown man. You can’t tell me what to do.” He was right, and I admitted it even after I chased him out of my door.
Clint Eastwood nailed it in the movie “Gran Torino” when he said “Get off my lawn”.