GOP Bill: No Flag, No Federal Funds For College

GOP Bill: No Flag, No Federal Funds For College

December 6, 2016 | 9:49 AM EST

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Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) sponsored the
"Protect Our Flag Act". (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - 54 Republican legislators have signed on to a bill that would forbid federal funds to any “institution of higher education that removes, censors, takes down, prohibits, or otherwise halts display of a flag of the United States.”

H.B. 6433 or the "Protect Our Flag Act" is sponsored by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio).

The briefly worded bill would allow colleges and universities to regain access to federal funds “upon complete and proper reinstatement, by the institution in its official capacity, of the flag of the United States at any and all locations on campus property (including across multiple campuses, if applicable) from which a previously displayed flag of the United States was removed, censored, taken down, prohibited, or otherwise halted from display pursuant to an official policy of the institution to prohibit the display of the flag of the United States by the institution.”

The measure has been introduced and was referred to the House Education and Workforce Committee on Friday.

The bill follows the controversy surrounding Hampshire College’s decision to remove the American flag. The Massachusetts based college made the decision after the flag was burned following the presidential election.

After weeks of protests, the college restored the flag on Friday.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...-funds-college

That's good!

Soldiers Don’t Fight So Protesters Can Burn the Flag They Died to Protect

December 6, 2016 | 9:13 AM EST

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Protesters are burning and trampling upon the American flag again. When veterans counter-protest against this behavior, some people suggest that they should not protest saying soldiers die so that others might have the freedom to burn the flag in the public square.

This “soldiers-die-so-protesters-can-burn-flags” slogan has become a mantra repeated everywhere. Many people find a bizarre beauty in this tragic contradiction. They understand neither freedom nor flag.

Flag burning is wrong, purely and simply. Deep down everyone knows it, but many are afraid to admit it. However, they should at least realize that they insult the soldier when saying he dies so that others can burn the flag.

Such conclusions used to be obvious in times when objective standards of right and wrong were universally recognized. Prohibiting flag burning was enshrined in law for decades without any threat to the freedom of citizens. Moreover, such a prohibition is, even now, supported by many common-sense Americans who wish to see the flag defended by a constitutional amendment.

But this is not obvious to others in these times of moral relativism. Such people follow the worn-out liberal dogma that confuses freedom and license. They define freedom as doing anything one wants to do as long as it does not hurt others. This is to misunderstand natural liberty. This liberal way of thinking turns “freedom” into a means of justifying the practice of vice, gratifying passions or dividing the nation. This kind of “freedom” resents authority, order and restraint of all types. Inside this definition, they invent the “freedom” to burn the flag.

Of course, this idea of freedom is contrary to the classical notion of “ordered liberty” that has always associated freedom with virtue and self-restraint. Those who exercise self-control over their passions become free to pursue so many other goals. On the contrary, those who give in to their passions are enslaved by them.

Thus, the true nature of freedom is the faculty of choosing the means toward an end that is perceived as good. The choosing of an evil reflects a defect of judgment not a proof of freedom’s proper functioning.

This distinction of freedom is particularly true of the soldier. The soldier does not fight for the “right” to do whatever. His fight is oriented toward the defense of order.

His moral universe makes a clear distinction between right and wrong because his life depends upon it. He puts force at the service of the good and directs his action against the forces of evil. The soldier does not give his life to defend disorder. Rather his fight implies a rule of law that limits the activities of people so that order might exist in society and true freedom might flourish.

To suggest that a soldier might die so that others can have the freedom to do something wrong goes against everything the soldier stands for. Thus, the soldier does not fight, for example, so that others might have the “freedom” to have abortions. Likewise, those who think soldiers die to defend flag-burning misunderstand freedom’s true nature.

They also do not understand the flag.

The flag is not just a piece of cloth. In these times of extreme individualism, many want to hijack the flag and turn it into a symbol of a person’s right to pursue happiness without any social commitments.

But that is not the flag’s meaning. The flag is a visible symbol that invites individuals to think beyond their self-interest. It represents a moral commitment to the common good of the collective entity called America.

The visible flag represents the invisible bonds that link Americans together as a people. It expresses those common ties that unite Americans past, present and future.

Indeed, the flag belongs to no political party, social class or special interest lobby. It belongs to everyone and rises above the petty intrigues and politics of the day. The flag honors a collective vision of what America was, is, and might be. It is the celebration of what is called the unitas ordinis, that unity of order that makes up America. It is a symbol of the commitment made by all Americans to be a member of the nation.

That is why the soldier fights for the flag and is buried with one draped atop his coffin. It is symbolic of his giving of his entire self to the common good of the nation. The union from this selfless giving is so great that flag and soldier almost form a single whole. Attacking and burning the flag is like attacking the soldier.

Thus, when protesters burn the flag, they are burning the symbol of this moral commitment to be part of society, the very commitment needed if solutions are to be found for the problems afflicting the nation.

When protesters burn the flag in the public square, they are not just burning a material piece of cloth, but rather a symbol that does not belong entirely to them. The flag belongs to all Americans. Flag-burning is wrong because they are destroying something that belongs to others and have no right to deface.

It is natural that people take measures to stop the destruction of something that belongs to them. That is why veterans gather to defend the flag they fought for. As members and soldiers of the nation, the flag is also theirs. Such an act of injustice is an injustice against them as well.

That is also why flag-burning has been banned in so many places. Public flag-burning is an anti-social act, a provocation to violence, a disturbance of the peace and a suicidal denial of national identity.

In such cases, the nation has always had the right of self-defense. If corporations can defend their trademarks against infringing abuse, how much more reasonable it is for Americans to protect their flag from desecration.

These considerations are not politically correct. They probably will not convince those who believe freedom includes the right of self-destruction. But in these times of moral relativism, they need to be said and re-iterated. Soldiers do not die so that others might do wrong. Freedom is not license. The flag belongs to all Americans. Flag-burning is wrong.

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/jo...y-died-protect

Did anyone see the cartoon of the little boy in front of his Christmas tree trying to set fire to the Flag. His parents ask, "Maybe it's time to consider homeschooling."

I have been saddened by the overall disrespect for our flag. Where I grew up , it was taken down at sunset, never allowed to touch the ground, and when tattered, it was burned. Usually the American Legion, Boy Scouts, etc., would do that.

Then to see the illegals marching in our streets demanding 'rights', carrying the flag upside down, wrapping their babies in it, etc. I was sick.

Of course, the upside down flag was very appropriate - we are in distress.

Having said that, why do I think this kind of 'lawmaking' is dodging all the tough things that need to be tackled. They can denounce these things, even pass meaningless laws, get a lot of camera time. I mean even the 'other side' can't really argue with them on this one. It looks 'so good'.

What they need to be doing is helping get the illegals out of our country, cutting out the corruption, stopping the senseless wars we have going on, putting a stop to the violence and vandalism they are calling 'free speech'.

Burning the US flag is sexist misogyny. Our flag was created, designed and sewn together by a dear woman, Betsy Ross, and to burn her flag as modified through the years to add states, over your petty self-centered BS is a crime against the Women of the Revolutionary War and the People of the United States.

Now pass a bill that NO taxpayer dollars will go to public schools that allow illegal aliens to attend. Stop aiding and abetting illegal aliens!

The illegal parents are the custodians and guardians of their minor children...not US taxpayers. Deport the whole family.