Teacher Burns American Flags in Classroom to Gauge Student “Feelings.” Students Feel Hot.
A seventh grade teacher in Louisville, Kentucky, burned two American flags in his classroom on Friday. Teacher Dan Holden torched the flags as part of a civics lesson designed to explore the “feelings” of the students.
This incident illustrates exactly what’s wrong with the Supreme Court decision in the 1989 Texas vs. Johnson case. The Court, in that infamous case, created out of thin air, a “freedom of expression” to be tacked on to the First Amendment’s free speech clause. As a result, burning the American flag is now protected as free speech even though innocent lives are sometimes endangered.
In order to do what leftists love to do - reduce important issues down to “feelings” - Holden stupidly exposed his students to the possibility of a horrible death. Amazingly, he is still an employee, although school officials have reassingned him to a non-teaching position.
August 22nd, 2006 at 1:31 pm
I have a very simple question. If the object of the lesson was to provoke interest in free speech, why didn’t this teacher burn a flag other than ours? What if he burned the Canadian or Mexican flag? Wouldn’t that elicit a strong response from students? Maybe they could explore the geopolitical relationship of our North American neighbors in this way?
The reason he didn’t was simple. He wanted to provoke hatred of this country as all liberals do. Communists seek to destroy us as we fight worldwide Islamic Fascism. This man is not much of a teacher.
And he did endanger students. There should have been proper authorities standing by with equipment and this should have been done in an open venue with prior parental notification and school board notification. This teacher had a responsiblity to protect those kids first and foremost. So they could all prepare. Instead he made his little statement and now I make mine.
Dan Holden should be fired. Period.
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Thank God we have the RIGHT to burn the flag. Its called Freedom of Speech, and it is protected just like verbal or written speech. The Framers and Founders burned efigies of the King, its really no different. I think its a provacative exercise for school and I would have loved a teacher in high school that tried to make me think like that. Good for him!
August 22nd, 2006 at 4:01 pm
ah, a brave teacher.
if you are offended by what he did, you are just following the talking points of the GOP slugs…..and you probably are christian, but don’t really follow what Christ REALLY said………
don’t worry, i am not a democrat. most of the good guys in america are not DEM and most certainly aren’t the true spawn drones of evil (i.e., republican)
PAX VOBISCUM!
SALAAM ALEIKOUM!
PEACE!
feelings are what republicans are missing. no wonder they cheat on their wives (especially if they are in office and/or rich)….the poor GOP folks just suck it up and keep electing these bastards!)
August 22nd, 2006 at 4:26 pm
I say more power to the guy. The flag is a symbol not the reality. You can’t claim that the flag is a symbol of freedom but then hold it “above the law” so to speak.
To paraphrase Alan Watts: it is to misktake the symbol for the reality; to look at the finger pointing the way and then sucking it for comfort rather than following it.
Wake up! And you really know enough about the specifics here to say he exposed the students to a horrible death? Nothing like playing to feelings - just like the “leftists”!
August 22nd, 2006 at 6:11 pm
This teacher should be fired for this inexcusable action. If he wants to continue teaching, he should seek a position outside the United States.
August 22nd, 2006 at 6:40 pm
How very sad that a TEACHER, a person to whom parents entrust their children would so such a foolish thing. That man is a teacher for whom I have absolutely no respect and I think his students probably feel the same way now. Such a shame that Mr. Holden has learned nothing in his 27 years of teaching. Here’s hoping that the teacher’s union will allow him to be permanantly reassigned!
August 23rd, 2006 at 6:05 am
I GOT TWO WORDS FOR MR. HOLDEN…….. LYNCH MOB
August 23rd, 2006 at 6:05 am
First of all the teacher did have fire officials on hand during this demonstration. Second of all which teacher did you remember most the one that just showed you pictures or the ones that provoked emotion. I know wich one I remember. He did not do this out of some crazy politcal idea he did this so the students would “feel hot” and to get to express their emotions out on paper. I am not “reduc(ing) important issues down to feelings” I am just saying that we need to realize that this teacher was not trying to hurt these students in any way (he actually did every thing to not hurt them, fire officials on hand and they were small flags), he was just trying to get these kids to think out of the box.
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:38 am
To Captain Craptacular - Tell me specifically what Framers and Founders burned effigies of the King? Give me names. When the Bill of Rights was written, the Framers of the Constitution included “free speech” but not “free expression.”
To Opinionated Woman - There were not fire officials on hand. In fact, one of the little girls in his class testified that Holden had her go to a different section of the school to fetch a cigarette lighter. She said she was anxious about doing it but felt obligated. I agree with you that Holden was in no way trying to hurt any students, but lighting a fire in a classroom certainly is a potentially dangerous act. If he had torched say, a cardboard box, would anyone be sypathetic?
August 23rd, 2006 at 9:03 am
Comment #8 is almost as bad as #3. There were no fire officials. That’s just a big fat lie. If there were fire officials, the school would have known what was going on. If the school knew what was going on, he wouldn’t have been removed from his teaching position. They simply wouldn’t have let him do it. Secondly, what emotions was he trying to provoke? Fear of being trapped in a building that is on fire because of a dumbass teacher?
Response to “Captain Craptacular” (if you think your name is funny, it’s not.):
Last time I checked, the definition of speech did not include lighting things on fire. Also, in what way would that “exercise” make you think? How is the act of burning a flag thought provoking? I’m sure those 12 year olds were thinking about how evil the United States is as they sat there watching an American flag burn. Pfff. Grow a brain, retard.
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:18 am
The teacher did nothing wrong burning a small flag to obtain a reaction from his students and have them write about it, except that it should have been done outside. Our flag is a symbol of our county; it is not our country, nor what it stands for. Our principals of free speech and individual rights should not be limited when it comes to symbols and there should be no idolatry related to the flag. I have a daughter in Iraq and we fly the flag daily. I fly the flag because I love this country. If someone burned it, I would fly another one. Those that want to restrict individual rights come from a place that is more likened to a police state than a free country. And those comments that suggest violence show extremism and ignorance and a lack of understanding, and above-all intolerance of the real issue. These comments (by all) represent what the teacher was looking for. That’s what debate is.
August 23rd, 2006 at 11:23 am
If this teacher wanted to see what students thought when observing a burning American flag, why did he not observe proper protocol while contucting his “experiment?” He could have demostrated civic leadership, community pride, and good citizenship by simply doing what is supposed to be done when retiring a flag. He would have made a deeper (positive) impression upon his students had he truly respected our flag and called in a qualified civic group to dispose of it. The Boy Scouts of America and several other organizations conduct flag-burning/retiring ceremonies all the time. By properly retiring the flag this teacher could have not only seen what his students “felt” when seeing the burning of a flag, but also he would have made an indellible mark upon his students for GOOD.
I am deeply saddened, as an American, that we allow this kind of atrocity in one of our own schools. Don’t these students see enough of this kind of thing on the news?
August 31st, 2006 at 6:53 am
Best comment here is 1. I know how today’s Liberals think (?). If he had burned a Mexican flag in class they would have gone apesh*t and demand he be fired for racism and violating PC. No ACLU chapter in the country would have protected him. Can there be any question about that? But burning Old Glory simply gives them the warm and fuzzies. Patriotism is a dirty word to the American Left.
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:38 pm
he’s a fuckn moron what kind of person dose that if you have to do that do it some were eals Pendaho!!!!!!!!! >__