I’m writing this in response to Mr. Pressgrove’s opinion piece in Friday’s issue of The Reflector. First, I would like to congratulate him on his usage of the free speech we all enjoy. An open, candid dialogue is necessary for our republic to work. Now I would like to rebut. Yes, a flag is a symbol, but saying that it symbolizes a lofty and abstract idea is ridiculous.
The flag represents America from the field of 50 stars, whose placement was decided by a school boy, to the 13 stripes that represent our 13 original colonies. The colors have meaning, too. White represents purity and innocence, red represents hardiness and valor and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice. That wasn’t too abstract or lofty for me to understand.
Mr. Pressgrove said he does not need pieces of cloth to remember ideas, but did he consider others may? Mr. Pressgrove heralds our nation’s flag as a rallying point for the mindless patriots marching headlong into oblivion, and as for the Confederate battle flag, to him it’s nothing more than a stupid argument.
Did he stop to consider for a moment that the reason we keep the flag around is to perhaps not forget the war that tore a nation apart but to learn from a very terrible time in our history? “Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it.”
Politics aside Mr. Pressgrove, what do you believe in? Should we just ban any symbol because they are just too stupid and cause confrontation? That’s not accepting diversity but rather sweeping it under the rug. Or perhaps we could all rally around one guy, and pick one symbol, and if you don’t like the guy or symbol we’ll just send you away and burn you up. Does that sound crazy? It has happened. We have symbols, whether it be flags, pictures, sayings or songs, because we’re different. America is a nation of diversity.
Also, Mr. Pressgrove goes on to denounce the practice of flying flags at half-staff. Bottom line, get over it. It’s called being reverent and respectful. If flying a flag a different way for someone or group of people irks you, don’t go to a funeral. I hear at those things all they do is talk about the departed … imagine that.
On a personal note, I am a veteran. I served my time overseas, and even though I may not agree with all the ideas that sent me over there, I went, and I am proud of that. Mr. Pressgrove, you have freedom of debauch “a piece of cloth” because of “mindless soldiers who recite words that they don’t understand, much less believe.” So maybe next time instead of looking at the flag and saying how terrible a symbol it is, maybe think about what it actually symbolizes.