Every nation needs something that unites it, a sense of identity and purpose. The French, for example, were united by the King and the Church, until they were

Every nation needs something that unites it, a sense of identity and purpose. The French, for example, were united by the King and the Church, until they were not. After the revolution they became very united by their nationalism, in the original sense of the word - shared language, values, traditions, symbols, customs, as well as by the ideals of republican democratic governance. Historically most nations were united in Monarchy and/or Religion. Over time some switched over to either nationalism or an ideology like communism, and some even switched back to Monarchy later on. A country that lost its uniting force can easily disappear into a fiery flash of a civil war or sink into a suffocating simmering of gradual societal disintegration. One might conclude that any attack on the Uniting Symbol is a heinous crime and needs to be stamped out as quickly as possible. This is questionable from the modern western perspective, but I can see how one could make this argument in good faith from the other parts of the world. Especially from the countries where they do not (yet) have a different Uniting Symbol.