Indiana, the Inherently Incontroversial State
Even when Indiana tries to cause controversy, the press doesn't catch on until Florida follows suit.
God May Be My Copilot, But He Isn't Getting Anywhere Near My License Plate
The gist of the article: Indiana has had license plates commonly available that say "In God We Trust" for the last year or so. The ACLU sued, claiming it was an inappropriate mixture of church and state. The lawsuit is mentioned nowhere. Now, Florida is trying to produce its own version of that license plate, as well as a specialty plate with a cross and the phrase "I Believe." As a result, media groups go crazy, and a battle over free speech ensues.
There are basically two points of view on this:
One:If I can have a license plate supporting my favorite sports team or college, I should be allowed to have one supporting my Creator and Personal Savior.
Two:If we allow this, we'd have to allow plates for Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and the KKK, too, so let's just disapprove all requests and avoid any accusation of unfairness.
It should also probably be noted that in Florida, the State Representative sponsoring the plate's approval, Edward Bullard, doesn't believe that all groups should be allowed to support their preference. As an example, he said he would oppose an atheist-sponsored plate that said "I Don't Believe" or something of that nature.
First of all, this makes me wonder why Florida seems to get priority on political controversy and why they never allow any other states to take a crack at it. Indiana clearly tried to stir up this argument first, and despite an ACLU lawsuit, they still received no attention. It seems unfair.
Second of all, just like that censorship post I wrote a while back, this kind of situation brings up the difficult situation of trying to draw a line in a very gray area. Who can really say which religions/groups should be allowed on government-sponsored items and places, and which should not? Who decides what groups constitute religions or have too many religious ties to sponsor a plate? Do you approve the 5 most popular religions in the country for license plate sponsorship and reject all those below the relegation line? Or do you say that religion must be limited to bumper sticker material and license plate space should be saved for truly worthwhile things, like pro sports teams? What happens if Billy Graham buys the Cowboys from Jerry Jones and renames them the Dallas Jesus Freaks...are they still approved?
No matter what way the politicians and courts rule, they're likely to offend a large pool of citizens. There are far too many viewpoints out there to appease them all.
And if you do try and appease everyone...well, you end up with the Flying Spaghetti Monster on your courthouse lawn, like Crossville, Tennessee residents. [Side note: the FSM statue's tour of duty on the lawn ends May 1st, so plan your road trip soon if you wanted to see it]
As for my personal opinion....well, I'm not the type to go flashing my religious beliefs at people, so I opted not to get such a plate myself. But should other people be allowed to? My initial reaction was religious beliefs shouldn't be on government-produced things like license plates, mostly due to that "separation of church and state" portion of the Constitution. But then I realized that every single government-produced dollar bill or coin already comes with "In God We Trust" emblazoned on it, so apparently precedent says this sort of thing is okay. So long as you're Christian.
Your thoughts?