The plate was concieved by a politician - not anyone representing a religious denomination. He did it because he’s a deterined soldier fighting the “War on Christianity” and what better way to do that than to proudly display a licence plate that not only has the “In God we trust” motto but also an American flag.
I hate the pandering.
I hate the folks who are happy to place their devotion to a diety on the same plane as “Kiss me, I’m Irish” sentiment
I hate all the “in-your-face scummy athiests/libruls/commies” subtext
Now I can’t drive anywhere without arriving pissed-off.
Grrr
I guess that if you’re not a flag-waving American, then you don’t really trust God.
Maybe that’s the real reason illegal immigrants aren’t willing to ‘wait their turn’ through legal channels - they want to get right with God, realize they can’t do it without being a flag-waving American, and aren’t going to let the immigration bureaucracy get between them and God.
I hear you. I hate the plate that came before this one too (image) - the shitty amateur-level drawing in the background is rendered in ugly slime colors, and the lines of the waving grass clash with the rest of the compositions. It looks like it was designed by a fucking child.
I have fond memories of the Amber Waves of Grain plate from before 2000. Sunset, a silhouette of a town in the background, bold black letters over the warm red and yellow colors, and light yellow letters over the black silhouette. Someone actually thought about the design of this one instead of hiring 5th graders to do it. Of course, now someone will probably come in telling me how ugly the Amber Waves plate was. But if you just look at it from a design standpoint, it’s leagues above the latest ones.
The new plate pisses me off even more though. Aside from not caring for the obnoxious pandering the OP mentioned, there’s obviously the fact that not all of us choose to identify as religious, and many of those who do would still prefer to not wear it on their sleeve or have it arrogantly displayed on their license plate. And the design of it is shitty - the words of “In God We Trust” are haphazardly arranged, and the flag design at the bottom is indistinct and ugly. Everything about this new plate is shit.
I haven’t renewed yet, but when I do, I’ll spend a little extra money and get the Environment specialty plate.
What makes you think this is some kind of Holy War? You know that motto is on our money too? Do you find it difficult to buy things or cash a paycheck without getting pissed off?
Also, what does “In God We Trust” specifically have to do with Christianity? It works equally well for Jews and a buttload of other religions. It isn’t “In Jesus We Trust”.
I can’t believe people get so pissed off at the most inane things.
You may cover the motto on a license plate, if I recall correctly. Sometime back in the 70s or 80s, the Supreme Court ruled that the motto “Live free or die” on New Hampshire’s plates could be covered by those who did not wish to display it.
I think it’s part of a crusade because of this quote given by Rep. Woody Burton (R-Greenwood) [the guy who started this] :
“There is an attack on faith in this country, not any particular faith. I mean, the thing that happened in the legislature talked about Christians but we’ve seen it in other places.”
He also said he suggested this plate specifically to counter the fact he wasn’t allowed to pray publically.
In a similar vein - if there had been nothing on money all along, I’d be also pissed if someone wanted to slap the motto on dollar bills this year.
Yes - it could be that someone just wanted to put our country’s motto on the plate. There’s nothing wrong with doing that in a vacuum. But to think that’s the motivation behind this is naive.
And the most pit-worthy thing about this entire exercise is that it’s another example of politicizing religion.
I was under that impression that the “In God We Trust” plate was in the process of becoming the new standard license plate. If it is just an optional plate, like the other specialty plates but without the cost, then I don’t feel as strongly about it, although I still think it looks ugly. Is it a specialty plate or is this going to be the standard Indiana plate?
Bear_Nenno, the argument used by people who oppose the “In God We Trust” motto is primarily that it excludes those who are atheist or otherwise lack belief in God. Some take this farther than others - I see no reason to remove the motto from our currency, and for the record I’ve never minded “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. But we hardly ever look at the writing on money - it’s just not something that matters very much, aesthetically. The motto on the plate, on the other hand, is in big glaring letters and you have to see it every time you’re behind another vehicle on the road (which is a lot.) So something about it just strikes me as wearing religion on the sleeve.
Primarily I just think it’s an ugly design. I’m more interested in aesthetics than politics.
It says in the link that it’s a specialty plate, but that you don’t have to pay extra for it. That’s at least a good thing…here in Illinois, I think all the extra fees you pay for the specialty plates go to the cause championed on the plate…$40 goes to your alma mater, or to the enviroment, or whatever. I guess in this case, there is no fund that would be appropriate!
Since it’s not the standard plate, I can’t get too worked up about it.
Yeah, if it’s not the standard plate and you aren’t forced to put the equivalent of a Jesus Fish on your car, then I’m not too concerned, either. If I were forced to put a religious plate on my car, I think that just might be a battle I was willing to fight. Church and state are separated here, and they can damned well stay that way.
So some enterprising doper could print up a bunch of little stickers with the word ‘Cecil’ on em and just the right size to cover up ‘God’.
They’d make a killing!
Woody is exaggerating a brouhaha that was inflated to begin with. The Indiana House had opened with a brief prayer for a long time, but Publican Speaker of the House Brian Bosma let it get out of hand. Prayers were approaching sermon length. The last straw was a Christian preacher who sang a hymn about walking with Jesus, and encouraged Representatives to sing along and clap their hands. A Jewish journalist in the gallery got up to walk out, and he was restrained from leaving. He joined the ACLU Indiana suit, and a judge ruled against sectarian prayer during House sessions.
Bosma’s response was to have the Publican reps gather at the rear of the House chamber before each session for a Christian prayer. In the election, the balance of the House changed hands. New Speaker Pat Bauer took the more obvious path. He opens each session with a nonsectarian prayer. There, was that so hard?
I’m not riled up about the In God We Trust plate. The rest of Indiana’s dozens of special plates cost extra, and part of the extra money goes to various causes (Heritage Wildlife Trust, Elementary Education, and a handful of universities, for example. You can also get vanity plates to tell the world you’re a HOTMAMA or BORING, and the extra bucks go to general state funds. If the IGWT plates sent money to some churchy group, I’d be steamed, but they don’t. They’re not mandatory, either, so I can get a regular Indiana plate.
