In my country (eu) it’s illegal to burn the national flag. It’s also illegal to burn a picture of the king (offence to the crown), and making a post like this but with a bible would be considered ‘offence to the religious sentiments’ (this is only for catholics, the feelings of other believers be damned).
There was an extremely funny incident in the UK in the run up to the Brexit referendum in which a seething pro-Brexiter tried to burn an EU flag only to be thwarted by the fact that EU regulations made sure the flag was fireproof
Yeah, there are a lot of reasons that I oppose laws against burning or defacing things as part of a protest by default and those are some examples of why.
If done as part of an implicit threat, like buring with chants about committing violence it should count as part of the threating message, but not by itself as a symbol of defiance or to just cause offense.
SCOTUS has previously ruled that burning the American flag is protected speech, but I believe they have upheld (or just not heard cases against) state laws that burning crosses is hate speech or threatening speech (which are not protected.)
Yes, SCOTUS has consistently ruled that threats of violence are different than protesting.
Burning a cross on someone’s lawn is an implicit threat of future violence because that is the only historical use of burning crosses on someone’s lawn. Burning a flag in a public space is saying you disagree with the government, which is a protest.
Burning a cross in America is not a message that you hate Christians. It’s deeply associated with the racist organization the ku klux klan and their extrajudicial murders of black people.
So yeah you can do the thing associated with being mad at a country but not the thing associated with “get your melinated skin in line as per our beliefs or we kill your entire family”
The US flag code requires burning. Cremation is a thing. Burning is a respectful way to dispose of things in a lot of cultures.
Burial is also considered acceptable, AFAIK
Flag is a pretty good comparison. Burning is the recommended disposal method, but people want to ban it and/or get very upset when it’s burned
In my country (eu) it’s illegal to burn the national flag. It’s also illegal to burn a picture of the king (offence to the crown), and making a post like this but with a bible would be considered ‘offence to the religious sentiments’ (this is only for catholics, the feelings of other believers be damned).
It’s still wild to me that in 2025 democracies allow themselves to have royalty. What a farce!
There was an extremely funny incident in the UK in the run up to the Brexit referendum in which a seething pro-Brexiter tried to burn an EU flag only to be thwarted by the fact that EU regulations made sure the flag was fireproof
Catholic monarchy… Spain?
Ding ding!
Yeah, there are a lot of reasons that I oppose laws against burning or defacing things as part of a protest by default and those are some examples of why.
If done as part of an implicit threat, like buring with chants about committing violence it should count as part of the threating message, but not by itself as a symbol of defiance or to just cause offense.
SCOTUS has previously ruled that burning the American flag is protected speech, but I believe they have upheld (or just not heard cases against) state laws that burning crosses is hate speech or threatening speech (which are not protected.)
Yes, SCOTUS has consistently ruled that threats of violence are different than protesting.
Burning a cross on someone’s lawn is an implicit threat of future violence because that is the only historical use of burning crosses on someone’s lawn. Burning a flag in a public space is saying you disagree with the government, which is a protest.
Burning a cross in America is not a message that you hate Christians. It’s deeply associated with the racist organization the ku klux klan and their extrajudicial murders of black people.
So yeah you can do the thing associated with being mad at a country but not the thing associated with “get your melinated skin in line as per our beliefs or we kill your entire family”
¿Compatriota?