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View Full Version : Reigning in things a bit



jimnyc
08-08-2007, 10:44 AM
LN's Avatar

A lot of bad feelings came forth when LN decided to use a depiction of a burning American Flag as her avatar. While everyone is aware of my stance on the act of burning the flag, I see using a picture of it as "speech", and as such I allow it so that we all have the freedom to express ourselves. I don't condone the act, I wouldn't do it myself & I believe those that do such things are horribly misguided. If one feels they are protesting the "government" by doing so, they are awfully naive. I ask anyone not aware of the history of our Flag to do a little background reading. While you can find a few facts about government involvement in the Flag, it's more so about Freedom, Liberty, Patriotism and remembrance of our soldiers who gave their lives defending those qualities.

George Washington stated: "We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty."

A book published by Congress in 1977 stated: "The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."

Another quick definition: The 13 stripes in the American flag represent the original 13 Colonies. The 50 stars represent the States and a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind. Red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters. White stripes stand for liberty and equality for all. Blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I ask everyone to please think about exactly what they are protesting when burning our Flag. Remember the words from our Founding Fathers and from the many soldiers who fought and died defending exactly what our Flag stands for.

I'm actually happy that a few good threads have evolved from this. I think people should be made aware more and more exactly what our Flag stands for, what our veteran’s thoughts are, and why a lot of us feel it should be protected.

If I feel so strongly about this issue then why do I allow her to use such an avatar? I've been asked that question many times now, and I'll be happy to answer for all to see. The board and what my original reasoning was for ever starting politically based forums, and to protect that idea as much as I would the Flag. This idea was to create an environment for everyone to speak their views without censorship. A place where you could debate with passion, or head to another forum and just exchange ideas with others or just have fun. A place where even a "family" could call home. A place everyone would feel welcome while being free to express themselves and their beliefs. While not always perfect, I try to remain true to that, even if it means making decisions against my personal beliefs. It's about the board, and the community that exists here, not me.

NM & RSR

Many have complained about the amount & quality of the posts made by NevadaMedic and Red States Rules. We don't set a limit to the amount someone can post, nor do we have a quality indicator. I don't think making a judgment on either is a good precedent to set. We have had many great posters over the years who have posted quite often. We also have members who don't articulate themselves quite as well as others. Limiting posting amounts and/or styles would open a can of worms the board would rather not deal with. Neither is indicative of a bad or good poster. What is indicative is how said poster handles themselves when posting and how they interact with others.

What I am going to do to assist both sides of the equation is set up a "news stories" forum. This forum will be used for members wishing to post solely news stories they have found on other sites. If another member reads the story and wants to create a discussion in the relevant forum, they are free to do so. But we will ask that just simply posting a story or article be posted in the new forum. This forum will not count towards a users post count, nor will it be indexed by the search engine utilized by vBulletin software. This means that when other members click on "New Posts", they won't see the many stories that get posted within that specific forum.

Steel Cage

I've opened up this section again for members to start new posts. My reasoning is because there are way too many posts being made elsewhere simply to complain about one another or condemn one another. If you really feel the need to do so, please do so in the steel cage, as this way others not wanting to participate or read such matter will have the opportunity to avoid it entirely. While I'm allowing such posts to continue, that doesn't mean I am encouraging it. While we prefer everyone debate intelligently and civilly, we also understand that confrontations will happen. Rather than ruin a decent thread, take your gripes with other members to this forum or via PM.

jimnyc
08-08-2007, 10:46 AM
Please contact me directly if you have a question, or an additional subject that needs to be addressed.