Church, State and License Plates

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http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2009/04/crist-dont-like-jesus-plate-dont-buy-it.html

I'm aghast, to be honest... though I liked one of the comments giving example of other ways that philosophy can be applied.


M.

okay, following the surprme courts all or nothing clause, I move to have a pentagram (Wicca) license plate, the pentacle (Church of Satan) license plate and a crescent (Muslim) license plate!

1. Jesus is depicted on a license plate.
2. If you don't like, don't buy it.
3. People buy it.
4. Therefore, they like it.
5. Therefore, God exists.

Flawless!

I'm imagining Jesus driving around with his picture on his license plate.

Can I get one with an Olmec head?

I am wondering would a licence plate with Bacchus be protected or would be seen as a promotion of drink-driving? An what a licence plate with Zeus and Ganymede? Religion or promotion of paedophilia?

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Think those idea through let suggest that neutral plates with just a string of numbers may be the best idea.

Why should it be illegal? "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or the free exercise thereof..." The state can't prohibit people from expressing their religious views, just as it can't officially endorse one religion over another.

I'm not understanding how this is supposed to be a "separation of church and state" issue.

Because, at least from how I interpreted the article, it seems that the state is issuing the plates.

If the state decides to sponser Jesus plates than they better follow cognito's proposal and allow similar luxuries for Muslims, Wiccans, Hindus, atheists ... ad infinitium.

As for the "In God We Trust", the US ought to look into overturning that vestige of dark days of McCarthyism.

Without provision for other faiths, it amounts to state support... and my interpretation was the same, that these are state issued plates.


M.

Ask, and you shall receive...

See Orwell, don't you now wish that we abolished the government and got rid of this mess!

Excellent! It's beautiful!

Yes, state issued, but license plates are a rather trivial thing, and I believe states often offer license plates themed for a particular organization or cause without people assuming the government automatically endorses that organization or cause. I think the range of license plate options is most likely driven by requests for a certain type of license plate. So, don't be surprised that there are no Baha'i license plates. It's not really state support of a religion. Florida could probably find enough demand to provide Star of David license plates, though, given the massive Jewish population of South Florida.

Also, the whole "separation of church and state" thing (a phrase never found in the Constitution) seems often to be misinterpreted badly. It's getting to the point where any public profession of faith by someone connected to the government is now criticized as state endorsement, even when it clearly is not. In the US, people are free to follow any faith (or no faith) as their own conscience dictates. Providing a certain license plate style because a lot of people want it is a far cry away from having a state religion- and remember, in the fairly recent past Bible study was a mandatory part of public school curriculum, nowadays teachers can barely even mention religion without fearing reprisal. Our secular society is in no danger from a freaking license plate.

I live in Florida. There are gobs of 'affinity plates' - if one group is allowed to create their own plate, all others should. But the system does not work that way.

A certain number of signatures on a petition are needed to be considered. And the process of creating a new plate requires a telephone survey to determine how many people are supportive. Then the legislature votes on it. Minority religious groups could easily be locked out if a large percent of the local yokels don't like that particular religion and say 'no' in the survey. And I doubt that good ole boys under the big dome in Tallahassee that have championed fundamentalist Christian plates will be equally supportive of smaller, less politically correct religions.

Yes, the state may be flirting with establishing a religion - consider the text for the law that created the Florida "Trust God" plate, where government creates and distributes an official product with a specific religious meaning, and then gives the money to a particular organization that has it's own philanthropic and religious agenda.

There is another affinity plate called "I Believe" - here is what the cached version of their homepage says (the page is not currently available) ...



So even if buying the license plates is voluntary, the state is extending a funding mechanism to different religions unequally. One beneficiary group even admits it is a way to use the government program to get around the ban on government funding for their type of group!

the phrase comes from Reynolds Vs US, and it was inferred from the first amendments phrasing of the for or against clause.