SC approves Christian license tag

In April, The Burning Taper reported on an attempt in Florida to introduce state license plates with a Christian cross and the words "I Believe."

The measure failed in the legislature.

But like "Whack-A-Mole," the idea popped up somewhere else. Flying below the radar until Thursday, the idea became law in South Carolina as Republican Gov. Mark Sanford let it take effect without his signature. The S.C. tag uses the exact same design as the proposed Florida tag did, with a Christian cross superimposed onto a stained glass window, proving (not that it was any secret) there is a particular organization behind the movement, namely, a fundamentalist Christian group known as "Faith in Teaching" based in Miami, Fla.

Prior to the Christian-themed license tag's approval, South Carolina politicians apparently learned a lesson from the tag's failure in Florida, and hatched an idea to create a tag for "atheists" so they could say, "See? We let everyone have a voice."

The "tag for atheists" consists of a white tag sporting an American flag, with the motto "In Reason We Trust." While it might make a great tag for Freemasons and fans of The Enlightenment, I'd hardly say that the state should be speaking for atheists as if they all "believed" or "trusted" in Reason. Being an atheist means not believing in a god, not that you believe in something other than a god. Even the name of photo of the S.C. "atheist" tag — "humanist.jpg" — shows its very existence is just sleight of hand and has nothing to do with atheism, as "[humanism] is generally compatible with atheism and agnosticism but doesn't require either of these," according to Wikipedia.

Just as Freemasonry has devolved into a "my version is better than your version" argument, so has our entire nation. Once a melting pot with the motto "E Pluribus Unum," which means "Out of Many, One," the United States of America has become divided and subdivided into cliques, sects, denominations, political parties, teams (and fans of teams) and gangs, all loudly, shrilly shouting "My way is the right way, and yours isn't!"

Out of One, we have again become Many.

Masons | E Pluribus Unum | Florida Politics | Freemasonry | South Carolina Politics | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

Florida to produce Christian license plates?

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