The debate about whether or not the Confederate flag should be flown continues to heat up. Some have used the flag to protest against black unity, some have rejected its use in their state's flag and still others don't care much about it either way so long as they can profit from it.

Gene Stilp, an artist in Pennsylvania is taking a firm stance against the flag of the destroyed Confederate States of America, and has been staging performance art installations in effort to firmly link the CSA with evil in people's minds.

According to Metro, Stilp wants to show that the Confederates and Nazis were "basically the same." To do so, he has created double-sided flags that have the stars and bars on one side, and the Nazi flag on the other.

He brings his flags to courthouses, makes sure people see them, and then lights them on fire.

"To combine the Nazi and Confederate flag is to make a point," said Stilp during one of the flag burning displays, "Which is that the Nazi and Confederate flag had basically the same values. Those values include hate, racism, bigotry, white supremacy, slavery and even death."

The artist is currently touring his installation around the state of Pennsylvania. Although many think of Pennsylvania, the state that is home to the Liberty Bell and the Quakers, as a bastion of pro-Union, anti-slavery sentiment, Stilp says he has noticed otherwise.

"Over the years we have noticed in many counties of Pennsylvania the flying of the Confederate flag," Stilp said. "They say 'heritage not hate.' The heritage of the flag is hate, this is a white supremacist flag. … After the death of Heather Heyer, I said, 'Why not join the Nazi flag and the Confederate flag into one flag to show that those values are the same?'"

Stilp has also performed a similar work at a NASCAR event in Alabama. He chose that sport in particular "because our racist president Donald Trump said NASCAR fans would not take a knee in regard to the NFL players' protest."

He showed the piece at Gettysburg as well. There, protesters wearing jackets emblazoned with the flag of the Confederate States of America watched his work while waiving Trump flags. Although they clearly disagreed with Stilp, their protest remained peaceful.

After staging the work at Gettysburg, he visited the site's souvenir shop, and publicly denounced the CSA paraphernalia being sold there, commenting that at the end of the day, the symbol of the Confederacy isn't being maintained out of some obligation to history, but in an effort to profit.

"That's what sad, this flag that represents hate, racism and bigotry, is used for commercial gain," Stilp said. "This shouldn't be any place in this town."

Despite his virulent opposition to the flag, Stilp says that he believes the First Amendment allows "anybody can fly any type of flag they want." Nevertheless, he hopes that in the years to come, no one will want to fly the Confederate flag anymore, because everyone in America will understand why that "flag should be taken down."

Gene Stilp

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