Merely A Copy

Rick Hertzberg connects two kinds of political burning:

[Y:]ou can't burn "the" flag, and you can't burn "the" Koran, either. Theflag is a Platonic ideal. As such, it is fireproof. Any particular flagis merely a copy, and you can't destroy the flag by destroying a flagany more than you can destroy (or even harm) the Constitution bydestroying a copy of it. Nor can you destroy the Koran by destroying acopy thereof, or any number of copies. But I can't claim to understandthe emotions involved...