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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dwight E. Karlsen who wrote (23215)	7/5/1998 7:05:00 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

<<Christine, the article of that girl refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag....what an ignorant girl. We are America, we who live on United States soil. We vote for our representatives. If she is ashamed of being an American, then she is a hypocrite for still living here.>> Do you believe in the First Amendment, Dwight? It would seem that it guarantees not only the right to NOT salute the flag, but the right to desecrate it as an expression of freedom of speech, as well. The girl is definitely not ignorant--she has obviously thought through why she doesn't want to salute the flag. She believes America is a very violent country. Did you read the part of the article about Thomas Jefferson? I think the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights definitely wanted to live in a country where there were lots of personal freedoms. Are you aware of the experiments where people are shown a copy of these documents, and most of them do not recognize what they are, and express the belief that they are radical, offering too many freedoms? All countries have people who do not feel they belong there, or disagree with the culture, and either leave or become dissidents of some kind. There are many Americans who consider themselves patriots who disagree vehemently with the way this country is right now, as many on the left as on the right. No one group has the inherent right to consider the others hypocritical. If I take your criticism of this girl seriously, it seems like you are saying that you believe in a more totalitarian state, where everyone can be forced to pledge allegiance. Is that correct?