Your Opinion: Defend the right to free speech

Dear Editor:

While driving to work recently I heard about a high school English teacher in Martinville, Illinois, that was suspended indefinitely for stepping on a flag in class to teach his students about free speech. According to the school's website the school has since received threats aimed towards the teacher in response to his lesson.

First, I want to explain that I am an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and have nothing but respect for American customs and courtesy and our patriotic tradition. When I was a teenager my favorite subject was English. I remember a particular teacher who often challenged our ways of thinking.

On one memorable writing assignment we were assigned the pros or cons of the abortion argument. A lot of students and their parents were upset that students had to write an affirmative paper for a subject they personally disagreed with. When we read our papers aloud, the teacher played "Devil's Advocate" and argued against our stance, whatever it was. Most students completely missed the lesson that this teacher was trying to teach them, and that was to think critically and try to empathize, not sympathize, with opposing voices.

I disagree with people who stomp on the flag, because I believe it's disrespectful. However, the Bill of Rights lists freedom of speech as the First Amendment of our United States Constitution. Laws against flag desecration have been challenged and overturned in this country by the Supreme Court of the United States in Texas vs Johnson in which SCOTUS affirmed that the expression of desecrating the flag is protected by the First Amendment.

That being said, as a veteran who swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, I may disagree with the expression of flag desecration, but I will at the very least defend someone's right to do so.

This teacher didn't desecrate the flag to be disrespectful. He did it to show his students that although they may not agree with the expression, it's protected free speech. Respecting other's beliefs is an invaluable lesson for today's students. Our students are learning from social media that violence against free speech is justifiable if it's for a cause that's popularly supported, and that is wrong. The notion that one's personal beliefs trumps everyone else's is the root cause for bigotry and that has no place in 2015.