South Carolina to Offer Cross on Car Plates

[depakid]

Source: NY Times

South Carolina drivers will be the first in the nation to be offered license plates that carry the phrase “I Believe” and a Christian cross over a stained-glass window under a law that took effect on Thursday.

Critics have threatened to fight the law in court, saying the license plate represents an illegal state endorsement of religion. The bill authorizing the plate passed the State House and Senate unanimously on May 22. It became law without the signature of Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, under the South Carolina Constitution.

“While I do, in fact, ‘believe,’ it is my personal view that the largest proclamation of one’s faith ought to be in how one lives one’s life,” Mr. Sanford wrote on Thursday in a letter to Glenn F. McConnell, president pro tem of the Senate and a fellow Republican.

Mr. Sanford told the department to charge people just enough to reimburse the state for the cost to produce the plate, estimated at $4 to $6, and to not allow any organization to benefit from its sales.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/us/06license.html

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Apparently, the design resembles the one proposed in Florida:

[Ian David]

1. Get a vanity plate that says "Idiot"

Then you'l be an idiot who "believes."

[DesertRat]

17. Mine would say DARWIN

[tanyev]

2. Are they offering designs for all of the other faiths in South Carolina?

Hmmm?

[Vinca]

3. Exactly. I'm betting this law goes south once Buddha shows up on a plate. nt

[Dogtown]

4. Ignorance and susperstition.

When will our species grow the fuck up?

[libnnc]

5. they weren't satisfied with the In God We Trust plates?

Those plates weren't "Jesusy" enough?

"I Believe"-- Now with More Jesus!

stupid waste of money

[CherokeeDem]

6. I was born in SC...

and I am ashamed. I agree unless all "religions" are included...none should be. Let's hear it for the Pagan license plate!

I swear, until we improve our education system so that people can think for themselves, we will continue to have this idiocy. I think we should do away with all vanity plates.

[raccoon]

11. Me too.

" I was born in SC...
and I am ashamed. "

[daggahead]

7. Can I get a pentagram on my plate?

Somehow, I doubt it.

[customerserviceguy]

30. There'd be nothing stopping you

from getting one of these plates, and covering the stained glass window and the cross with your pentagram, leaving the "I believe" part showing...

It would be fun to watch fundie heads explode!

[petronius]

34. Actually, I think that would be illegal. At least here, altering a license

plate refers to all parts of the plate, not just the number (IIRC)...

[colonel odis]

8. are they going to offer a burning one, too?

[mzteris]

9. I'd laugh

but it's not really funny . . .


edit spelling.

[bean fidhleir]

10. Religious display in public should be a misdemeanor

That's the only way to shut down the encroachment. Make it like the laws against having an open "beverage" bottle

[JeanGrey]

12. Nonsense. It is no state "endorsement" of anything.

Vanity license plates are up to the individual, not the state.

[Seeking Serenity]

14. I ws gonna say. The state isn't forcing people to have those plates

and no others. SC drivers could choose to pay the extra money for the vanity plate (or the Ducks Unlimited plate or the one with the Gamecocks mascot on it) or go with the standard one.

A state acknowledgement or recognition of religion, or of the fact that people are religious, doesn't, a fortiori, mean an establishment of religion.

[lutefisk]

15. A vanity plate refers to a message a person requests, like: MPEACHW

This is the vehicle tag itself, so I consider this a state endorsement.

Here are some examples of vanity plates:

http://www.coolpl8z.com/top-100-best-vanity-license-pla...

I wish states would just go back to the state name and a number, myself.

[Eric J in MN]

21. The state is making license plates for Christianity but not other religions.

Or for atheists.

[annabanana]

28. (see #21). . . n/t

[kskiska]

13. Why can't a license plate just be a license plate? n/t

[Jefferson23]

16. This is a sad commentary on how threatened some are about religion

that they need to sanction Christianity on their state license plate..I do hope this attempt fails.
Just what we need,"look at my license plate, I am a Christian and look who is NOT." Isn't that what is really behind this?

[walnutpie]

18. I think this thread is illustrates numerous examples

of those who are threatened by religion.

[ima_sinnic]

19. "threatened by religion"? what a weird idea! what is the, er, "threat"?

really, I'm serious. I don't understand the idea of a "threat" unless we are threatened with HAVING to believe in something that is made up, as in a theocracy.
I was brought up in the Methodist church and now I am (if I had to label myself) an atheist. I don't care if other people want to believe in imaginary beings and myths and legends, if it makes them feel better or something, and if they want to flaunt their belief in those imaginary things, that's fine, too. It just shows they're willing to accept beliefs that make no sense at all. It's kind of quaint, really.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

20. Nice try.

It illustrates numerous examples of those who believe in separation of church and state.

But to SC I say "go for it" -- let there be the Star of David, the star and crescent, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster...

[1Hippiechick]

22. true Christians don't use symbols to "advertise" that they are Christians-just as true patriots

don't wear flag lapel pins to "advertise" that they are true patriots, Americans, or whatever. From what I've seen, the people who have to "advertise" their religion typically do not embody the precepts of said religion. If anything, they typify what their religion is NOT which ultimately denigrates said religion.

"look at my license plate, I am a Christian and look who is NOT."

[and-justice-for-all]

24. I find this to be a clear violation of church/state seperation...

as is stated in the Constitution Of the United States.

[and-justice-for-all]

23. If they are doing offer this plate in recognition of xtianity...

they need to offer plates for ALL religions as well as non-religious and humanist.

[CanonRay]

25. Let's get our spray paint cans at the ready...

Once these cars get keyed or spray painted, these plates will dissapear

[guruoo]

26. That would just lend sympathy to their "cause". Instead, may I suggest

that if you really must do this, that you consider spraying the plate,
rather than the vehicle it's displayed on.

[customerserviceguy]

31. I'd put away the keys and the spray paint cans

If the license plate is approved (and I don't advocate this for a second), then it becomes a free speech right of someone to purchase it. Destroying another's property because I disagree with their beliefs is just against my nature, but perhaps that's just me...

[Skittles]

36. surely you don't condone this kind of behavior

I would not dream of doing this

[annabanana]

27. Can I get one with a Star of David on it? . .Or a Star &Crescent?

How about a Pentagram?

This is Bullshit.. and it is Unconstitutional unless ALL faith systems are included.

PLUS THE FLYING SPAGETTI MONSTER

[progetto]

29. I hope the courts find this unconstitutional n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

32. They ought to, but I'm not optimistic about that

Especially if it's a case that reaches the Supreme Court, now that the SC is controlled by right-wing anti-separationists.

[petronius]

33. I would not have a problem with this if it was like all the other special plates:

requested by a specific organization that provided start-up money and demonstrated demand. I would expect that any other religious group could then follow the same path.

However, it sounds like this plate was actually originated in the legislature, and there was no outside petition - that sounds like a huge problem to me...

[classysassy]

35. KKK

can the good old boys turn in their kkk plates for the cross?

[Ice-9]

37. Hilarious

State programs like this always have unintended -- hilariously unintended -- consequences. I'll bet the State gets away with this. You can make a good case under the current doctrine that this is not an Establishment Clause violation. But here's the rub. The State may win the suit, but five years from now a group of atheists will petition to put "God is Dead" or something similarly provocative on another set of vanity plates. Or wait, here's an alternative that would be even worse (in the eyes of Bible-thumpin wingnuts): a *Muslim* group wants to put "Allahu Akbar" on the State's license plates. All of a sudden, the State has a problem. It dodged the Establishment Clause bullet, but now it's staring down the barrel of the Free Exercise Clause (and possibly also the Free Speech Clause). Does the State allow all people to express their religious beliefs on equal terms by letting the atheist and Muslim groups sponsor their own plates? Or does it scrap the program entirely, thus pissing off the Bible-thumpin wingnuts and tacitly admitting that the real purpose of the program was not to promote "faith" but rather to promote a particular faith?

Either way, I'm looking forward to how this one turns out.