Florida may introduce "I Believe" license plates for Christians

[BurtWorm]

PS Myers says, "I choose to view this as a positive development":

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/269713934/i_choose_to_view_this_as_a_pos.php

Some of the politicians in the benighted state of Florida want to sell a new license plate.



The Florida Legislature may create a new license plate that features the words ''I Believe'' and the image of a cross in front of a church stained glass window. The measure is moving in both the House and Senate.

Rep. Ed Bullard, a Miami Democrat and a sponsor of the license plate, conceded that ''some people'' may find something wrong with it, but he said it was a license plate for those people who may want something other than a plate that has a manatee or picture of the Challenger space shuttle.

Look at it this way: the stupid people in Florida are going to be conveniently self-labeling themselves with the Mark of the Buffoon.

(And seriously, this is OK with me. They're going to be charging people an extra $25 for the privilege of sticking something so silly on their car; consider it another dumb tax.)

[SteppingRazor]

1. Oy vey. You know the biggest problem with this?

The fact that here in Florida we've already got about 15,000 types of vanity plates. I mean, how many is too many?

[Not Me]

7. Actually, I think there are something like 130...

and every time they announce a new one the State Police object....they can't keep them straight.

[yellowcanine]

14. No way will this pass constitutional muster unless they offer all religions.

As well as an Atheist one. Wiccan also. I think this is dead in the water when they think about it a little.

[SteppingRazor]

I'm sure it is. The Florida state supreme court is actually shockingly reasonable ... sometimes. n/t

[Deep13]

2. Non-Catholics need not apply, I guess.

The stained glass is eschewed by most Protestants, you see.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

30. it is?

[Deep13]

32. Generally, but not universally.

High Episcopal (aka "Catholic Lite"), for instance, sometimes uses them. Back East when I was still a High Episcopalian, our church had clear glass and little interior decoration.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

38. I dont think its that they are frowned upon

I go to a baptist church and we have them, I just think the architecture is different..

[Deep13]

40. Maybe it is the imagery typically depicted in stained glass...

...what with the saints and Biblical scenes and, in the old country, depictions of the monarchy. Part of the reformation was to do away with all forms of what the reformers regarded as idolatry. That meant no crucifixes, statues, icons or stained glass. The elaborately painted and decorated church interiors were simplified and white-washed. My native state, Massachusetts was founded by Puritans and other Protestant groups in the early 1600s and many churches still observe the colonial forms. Mine was a relatively new one having been established in 1810. Fortunately, it was retrofitted for central heat and electric lights, but not for air conditioning. It still has the box pews, the large, clear windows, central steeple, white clapboards (replaced by aluminum siding), and white interior of the mid-1700's.

Still, we had a priest, not a minister and certainly not a pastor, an elevated host (without the claimed transubstantiation) and the padded kneely-downy things in the pews.

[mainegreen]

3. Here's what they need to do:

For a nominal fee of 50 buck, people can have anything they want on a license plate, as long as it doesn't render a plate unreadable and as long as personal displays of that image in public wouldn't normally be illegal.

That way you can have your Jesus plate and someone else can have their Satan rulz plate and someone else can have their Monroe School Little League plate.

[Deep13]

4. They need one with a pic of James Randi...

...that reads "You're All Dead Wrong!"

[countingbluecars]

5. Well, at least now

we'll know which drivers are letting Jesus take the wheel.

[TommyO]

24. Floridians left behind will also know which cars are fair game

after the rapture!

Seriously, if this plate is allowed, every other religion needs to get a plate as well. If I were in Florida, I would love to get an FSM plate!

[flvegan]

6. Faith In Teaching, Inc

http://www.faithinteaching.org/aboutus.cfm

That's where the (state collected, mind you) money is going to go.

There's also to be an "In God We Trust" plate.

[China_cat]

19. SC has an 'in god we trust' plate

they also have a rule here that says you can't get a plate like that approved unless there's also a plate showing the oppositon. It's one of the reasons we don't have a 'pro-life' plate.

The counter to the god plate is 'in reason we trust'. It's the plate we have on our car.

[flvegan]

25. Wish we had that rule in FL.

We have a "Choose Life" plate, but no "Choose Women's Rights" plate.

[China_cat]

34. It's lovely.

No group here will apply for a choice plate (there wouldn't be enough sold to make an impact), so the anti-choicers have to do without.


But you could make that 'choose life' plate work by putting an anti-war bumper sticker under it.

[spanone]

8. here in tennesse you can get a 'pro-life' tag but not a 'pro choice' tag

state legislators DO have an agenda

[mr_hat]

9. Florida Cher fans conflicted.

[DJ13]

10. I dont believe that plate should be for religious purposes

That phrase has long been associated with the UFO community.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Do these folks get this thing about the First Amendment?

Oh never mind

[Hugabear]

12. Can you imagine if they tried to introduce a Wiccan license plate?

You know damned well the fundies would be howling their disapproval, doing everything in their power to defeat it.

And yet they are the persecuted ones.

[yellowcanine]

21. Well they will have to if they allow this one and the Wiccans demand equal treatment.

Not to mention every other religion, Atheists, Druids, etc. Someone did not think this one through very carefully.

[Hugabear]

26. How about an Islamic license plate?

I can very easily imagine Muslim groups pushing for their own license plate, with the phrase "Religion of peace" underneath. I would just love to watch these Christian groups squirm in their own hypocrisy. Let them throw all pretext of "equality" out the window.

[LTR]

13. I think there should be a "I banged my teacher" plate

As suggested by FARK, since Florida seems to be a hotbed for teacher/student mingling.

[Deep13]

33. "My honor student bangs his teacher at Middleton High!"

:evilgrin:

[Solly Mack]

15. There comes a point when you have to wonder who they're really trying to convince

all those trappings and symbols...

[Not Me]

16. Unfortunately, the extra $25 doesn't go to the state.

It goes to the sponsoring organization. The State *does* charge a one-time $60K for set up, tooling and distribution fees.

[htuttle]

17. I was expecting it to have an image of Tinkerbell on it...

[asjr]

18. That is so elitist! They need

to make one that says I do not believe to make it fair.

[rurallib]

20. Will they have a similar plate for Muslims or Jews etc? And how about

an I Don't Believe plate with a pic of a pile of bones in the tomb?

[Elspeth]

22. I want "I believe" with a hanging chad picture. The bottom would say...

"Florida was stolen in 2000"

[TCJ70]

23. Hey, if the state can make money this way...

...let 'em. Who cares? It's not an endorsement. If the state could make money with Islam/Wiccan/whatever other religion plates, they'd probably do that, too.

[Hugabear]

27. But the state ISN'T making money this way

See post #16, the extra money goes to the sponsoring group.

I have a plate for my college alma mater, so the extra $$$ goes to my school.

[katmondoo]

28. I have CELNY Polish for "choice" in Florida

to counteract the pro-life plate. I am beginning to dislike this new Gov. I think they are passing all kinds of horrible laws as fast as they can because they believe they will lose power in Nov. at least I pray they do.. The latest is you can take your gun to work. That should make you feel safe. I hate these people.

[Eric Condon]

29. There's been a similar thing here in Indiana for the past year.

Last year they introduced these gaudy "In GOD We Trust" license plates in Indiana. That's fine, whatever, but the problem was, they didn't charge extra for them. EVERY OTHER special license plate (Environment, IU, Purdue, Education First, etc.) costs extra, but conveniently, the religious ones cost the same as a regular plate. Unbelievable. Actually, scratch that - completely believable.

[bullwinkle428]

41. That explains why so many Indiana residents seem to choose those plates -

I live in Iowa, and notice a rather significant percentage of vehicles with the Indiana plates that include the "In God We Trust" option. Not hard to miss, as they use a completely different color scheme from all of the other optional plates, as well as the standard-issue plate:



How convenient! Red, white, and blue! A nice way to conflate religion and country...

[GoesTo11]

31. Excellent state-sanctioned signal of religious affiliation.

This will help Christian police know who to let off with a warning and who to write up. Christian meter maids will know who to ticket and who is doing the Lord's work. Christian managers can look around the parking lot and know who to promote.

If enough people choose this, non-believers will be easily identified and soon enough, they too may proclaim belief to simplify matters.

And then rapture will come. Whoopee!

[Richard Steele]

35. That plate isn't for "Christians", it's for a radical cult attempting to steal the word "believe".

That's not for "believers", it's for the tiny percentage of
the vast Christian species that bears the fairly recent mutation
known as the "USA Fundamentalist" gene.

There are many MILLIONS of people who "believe" in that cross...
and the rabidly fervent zealots of the "US fundamentalist" sub-species
are working hard to gain enough power to round them all up and kill them.



Here's what THEY see when they look at that license plate:

[Bozita]

36. How about a "Bush Lied; People Died" plate?

IMHO, most Floridians would approve.

[mainer]

37. How about one for Flying Spaghetti Monster?

It'd help rationalists identify each other.

[Hugabear]

39. I demand a William Shatner plate

http://www.shatnerology.com/index_org.html

Why not?

[Fumesucker]

45. Why would you want your car vandalized? n/t

[lightningandsnow]

42. When can I get my queer feminist pagan licence plate?

[L. Coyote]

43. Does God guarantee you "No more tickets, no more police stops"

The ultimate politicization of government, providing a method of identifying a favored minority,

or good old fashioned selling indulgences :rofl:

Will St. Pete shut you out for not having the "right" plates?

[spanone]

44. can you get an 'i don't believe' plate??? fair is fair is fair