Freedom Folks: Showing of Danish flag roils town

As militant Muslims from Indonesia to the West Bank torched and trampled the Danish flag this past week to protest political cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, Stoughton's Town Manager Mark Stankiewicz grew increasingly upset.

So in a small act of solidarity with Denmark and of support for free speech, Stankiewicz bought two Danish flags on Monday and raised one of the red-and-white banners outside the Town Hall that morning, flying it on the pole beneath the US flag.

The symbolic gesture was short-lived, as Stankiewicz lowered the flag the next afternoon after a local veteran complained that it was improper to fly the flags of two countries on one pole. He declined to release the name of the veteran.

While I normally support vets a hundred percent, I think this guy is dead wrong. Flying the Danish flag in this context shows respect and solidarity, sorely needed today.

But many people in town saw the foreign flag display as insensitive and inflammatory. Several town employees told Stankiewicz they did not agree with his decision and worried the flag could provoke violence against Town Hall in light of the attacks against Danish and other European embassies throughout the Middle East. Stankiewicz described their concerns as an ''overreaction."

Nice to see cowards and ninnies in positions of power, no?

Stankiewicz said he had closely followed reports of the Islamic protests. But it was a op-ed column written by Jeff Jacoby in Sunday's Boston Globe, headlined ''We Are All Danes Now," that persuaded him to show his support publicly.

''This was an extremely limited show of support for a country and its democratic institutions," said Stankiewicz, 48. ''Is religion going to trump free speech? If you don't stand up for certain rights, you risk losing them."

On Monday, Stankiewicz traveled to a flag store in Rockland and bought the only two Danish flags they had. One he flew at Town Hall, the other still hangs in a front window of his home.

Stankiewicz, who has visited Denmark and has friends there, said he worries that Western countries will cave in to terrorist threats unless they stick together.

''I thought people might be upset, but they need to understand what's at stake," he said. ''People are willing to sacrifice civil liberties to feel safe, and that's a slippery slope."