It seems like lots of controversy, religious and political, comes out of the state of Florida. Two years ago we found a pizza maven building a Christian city.Now the Florida legislature is debating whether to produce a Christian-themed auto license plate similar to ones they and other states produce that let drivers show support for colleges, ecological endeavors, and other "worthwhile purposes."
The proposed license tag will contain the words "I Believe" and show a stained glass window and a Christian cross.
If approved, it will be the first religious-themed license plate any state has produced, Breitbart.com reports.
Even some Christians are opposed to the idea, including state representative Kelly Skidmore, a practicing Roman Catholic. I suspect her opposition isn't because she supports the "separation of church and state" so much as she doesn't want to offer the same privilege to other religions.
She told reporters, "It's not a road I want to go down. I don't want to see the Star of David next. I don't want to see a Torah next. None of that stuff is appropriate to me."
The group asking for the plate is the Orlando-based Faith in Teaching, Inc., a non-profit group supporting "faith-based" school activities. On the group's website you can sign up to show your support for the idea.
Rep. Edward Bullard, the bill's sponsor, says he does not support other religious groups being given the opportunity to have similar plates, and says he would oppose any bill promoting equal opportunity.
Image: The tag proposed by Faith in Teaching, Inc.
Religion | Florida | License Plates | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com
The mind simply boggles. I almost hope it passes, so that the Pastafarians and Subgenii can sue to get their own plates, too.
ReplyDelete(I don't actually hope it passes. This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to move to Mars.)
It's interesting that at the time that the Bill of Rights was being debated, the leading proponants of the nonestablishment clause were the Baptist ministers, particularly in the Southern U.S.
ReplyDeleteThese ministers realized that the establishment of any religion would necessarilly mean discrimination against others, and at that time the Baptists were the most discriminated against religious group there was.
How times change. What strange bedfellows are made by politics.
Indiana has had a plate with the US flag and the motto "In God We Trust" for over a year now. It is the most popular plate in the state, and has the other specialty plate beneficiaries (which include both Freemasons and the Shrine, along with every college and sports team in the state) hopping mad, as it has cut into their sales.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it helps that the standard Indiana plate last year looked like a dissolving urinal cake from a distance, and that there is no specialty plate fee for the IGWT tag. So the specialty groups cost more. It was a no-cost way to not have the ugly plate.
So, what do you think happened?
Lawsuit.
says he does not support other religious groups being given the opportunity to have similar plates, and says he would oppose any bill promoting equal opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWhenever Xtians complain that they're being discriminated against, or wonder why other people give them such a hard time, they should look to incidents like this. "Of course I want religious freedom - I want you and I to be free to practice my religion."
And hard on the heels is the group in Kentucky who is trying to promote an Anti-pr0n plate.
What, bumper stickers ain't good enough anymore?
Truly Amazing!!! I am waiting for the Fundies to start asking for my tax dollars to support their good works. Oh wait, I'm already doing that through President Bush's Faith Based Initiative.
ReplyDeleteOf course all is good as long as you acknowledge that MY GOD is better than your god. Now shut up and bow down to MY GOD because He loves you. If you don't like that, well you can just burn in hell.
Please note most of the above is said in jest only!! May the Grand Architect protect us, all of us, from the "good intentions" of those who know what is best for us.
well, i know what plate I'll be getting next... now to decide on something both acceptable yet also extremely offensive as vanity text...
ReplyDeleteany suggestions?
"MINDSLAV"
"BRNWSHD"
"ATHEIST"
"DAWKINS"
"NO GOD"
etc.
Producerism:
ReplyDeleteDude! I like the way you think!
— W.S.
Quote:
ReplyDeletewell, i know what plate I'll be getting next... now to decide on something both acceptable yet also extremely offensive as vanity text...
any suggestions?
"MINDSLAV"
"BRNWSHD"
"ATHEIST"
"DAWKINS"
"NO GOD"
etc.
The fact that those words are offensive AT ALL (particularly the last three.) shows just how much the American public has parted from the ideals written in the First Amendment.