Arizona has given over a million dollars to a hate group from "In God We Trust" license plate fees
If you want to buy the specialty In God We Trust license plate in Arizona, the state says that $17 of your $25 annual fee goes to promote the national motto In God We Trust, 1st amendment rights and the heritage of this state and nation.
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What the state doesnt tell anyone publicly is that the $17 is sent to Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian Right organization that is labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. In fact, more than a million dollars has been given to the anti-LGBTQ group since the plate was first established in 2008.
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The legislation establishing this license plate passed as a floor amendment with no discussion there was no public awareness of what was happening or where the money was going, says Tory Roberg, the director of government affairs for the Secular Coalition for Arizona
People who choose the In God We Trust plate never know that theyre sending money to ADF. Its not on the ServiceArizona website, its not in the statute establishing the plate, its nowhere.
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Arizonans deserve to know exactly where their tax dollars are going, says Nick Fish, president of American Atheists
ADFs record as an anti-LGBTQ, anti-religious equality hate group isnt up for debate. Arizona taxpayers are unwittingly funding attacks on the rights of their neighbors and loved ones under the false pretense of protecting religious liberty.
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What do people not understand about the inappropriateness of this kind of fundamentalist inspired, state-sanctioned discrimination? says David Felten, a pastor at Fountain Hill United Methodist Church, who supports Secular AZs campaign. This is not just an abstract violation of church-state separation. Its a very real rejection of Arizonas LGBTQ people by the very government that is supposed to impartially support and protect all of its citizens.
https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/02/06/az-atheist-lawmaker-in-god-we-trust-license-plate-funds-christian-hate-group/