Well, that is a typically constructed appeal to emotion, and not the first time I've ever heard it either.
Let me retort.
Symbolic acts can only affect you to the extent you allow them to. The flags I fought for either fly over the posts I was stationed at, or are enshrined in places of honor around the country. The flags people burn in order to incite my reaction are merely pieces of colored cloth purchased in some novelty store.
Eminently reasonable. I, however, do not view the flag as a piece of cloth, and those who burn it obviously don't either, or they wouldn't bother. It's not that I allow them to imbue the flag with something that isn't there. It is there.
Burning such flags does not “piss on the graves” of anyone. However, using that kind of emotional appeal to justify attacking someone exercising a non-violent act of free expression is what TRULY serves to piss on the graves of those who fought and died for the right of fellow citizens to express themselves freely.
I don't care one whit if Iranians burn the flag. Americans burning the flag is another matter. It's a complete lack of appreciation for the freedoms they enjoy, and therefore is a lack of appreciation for the sacrifices made by others to ensure that freedom.
The “fundamental beliefs that transcend law and land” encompass individual liberty, which is limited only to prevent actual harm to others and/or the property of others. As I have said before, we have the right of self-defense to preserve liberty, not the right of aggressive-offense simply because we don’t like how someone else exercises their liberty in a non-violent manner.
I am equally free to express my displeasure and put the damn fire out. If somebody's feelings are hurt,
they can walk away.
If you don’t like watching someone burn a flag, exercise your right to walk away. If you choose to respond aggressively against a non-violent protestor then expect me (even if I don’t agree with their expression) to step up to defend their right to do so. That's what I enlisted and served my country for.
Just because you don't see a star beneath my name doesn't mean I didn't serve. I'm not wrapping myself in the flag. Understand, it's not the burning itself that prompts my response, it's the belief that's behind such an act that does, and that surely represents complete disrespect for the sacrifices that allow them to do such a thing. At some point, one either has to act in opposition to such things and what they mean, or accept them as whatever you choose to define them as representative of. The intention is clear. What you care to do about it is your concern. I'll be putting the fire out.
