Pennsylvania, at least, has some really good specialty plates. Unfortunately, there’s a “Choose Life” plate that uses the same two children from the Florida plates, and the PA fee goes to the PA chapter. Fortunately, I’ve never seen this one actually on a car, and I live in a fairly conservative county. I also wasn’t even aware of its existence until about five minutes ago.
My favorite, which is no longer available, honors the Constitution. It has a graphic of a scroll with “We the People”. I really want that one. Heck, I think the PA chapter of the ACLU should see about getting a plate, if the “Choose Life” people have one.
The American Flag is God’s cape. You will notice, thankfully, it isn’t being worn on the scene in the plate because that would mean things are getting bad.
Ohhhh. Well I’m right there with you now! That, along with the fact that it’s a free specialty plate, is pleanty reason to get pissed off.
I can’t stand these types of fuckers either!
Oh, come on now. If it was a “standard” specialty plate, and you had to pay extra for it, and that money went to some religious group, THEN the government would be subsidizing religion. Or would you prefer that?
Here, you don’t have to buy the plates. Nobody is forcing their religion on anyone else here. The state is allowing a display of opinion that is less intrusive than the money you handle, and its display is entirely dependent on the will of the purchaser.
And as to Mt. 6:5-6, Christ wants to warn listeners about the dangers of hypocrisy, which (and I’m sure Polycarp or one of the Dopers whose area of expertise this is will be along to clarify) in the most literal translation is something along the lines of “those who say one thing and do the opposite thing.”
So, if someone were to buy one of these plates and that person was, indeed, righteous, there is no real conflict with the Gospel. In fact, it can be argued that the plate helps the driver witness to the nations as God commanded.
(Mind you, the views expressed above don’t comport exactly with my faith, but it does show that, Consitutionally as well as biblically, there are convincing arguments for both sides and that neither the Constitution nor the Bible should have its pieces examined in a vacuum in order to make a point.)
Not really, because the money paid for any license plate is paying for the cost of the plate. My point was that if the government took extra fees and donated them to an organization that the plate was designed to support, THEN you would have an argument that the state was supporting religion.
I was driving my employer’s Chevy and pulled off a stop light behind a slow-moving truck. As I got to the other side of the intersection, wham, I got hit in the rear by a car whose driver then took off when I pulled over. Where are the cops when you need on? Two cars behind. He witnessed it and chased her down for a mile and bagged her. She was drunk as a skunk. I saw them taking her in cuffs into the jail a few minutes later.
There was no damage and no injuries, but embedded in reverse in the middle of my car’s white rear bumper was the message that transferred from her front plate,- “God is my co-pilot.” Jesus Christ!
Colorado also has a “Respect Life” plate, which passed due to its being tied to the Columbine High School tragedy. It is, of course, not about Columbine at all, though I must admit it’s pretty, with the flower on it.
I’m curious as to how it’s not connected to Columbine. The pretty flower on it is a columbine. A Colorado Columbine, at that. Is the money going to some pro-life group or something? Your link doesn’t say, just says it’s a “commemorative plate recognizing the victims and survivors of the tragic bombing and shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.”
These plates are all over the God-damn place here. Then again, Crawfordsville may be the most backwards town in the whole state. In any case, in my first, quick glance over the OP, I was scared shitless this was going to be the new standard plate. Still, the fact that it’s free, and apparently already very popular here, is going to continually piss me off. Maybe it’s time for me to finally get the Wabash plate I’ve been thinking of.
I, too, declined the “In God We Trust” plate in favor of the fugly one linked in post #4. Although we don’t have to pay extra for it, it’s just another annoying way Christians are assuming everyone wants to know that they’re Christian. <rolleyes>
I don’t care to know if you are a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, etc. by looking at your state-provided license plate. There’s a time and place for everything. I have no objection if you want to take your hard earned cash down to the local five and dime and buy a hundred little fishes to plaster all over your car. Just don’t offer me the opportunity at the license branch.
I’m completely with the OP on this one but most of my friends and family think I’m nuts. They don’t see the harm.
[off topic] Several years ago Indiana had an ad campaign to promote tourism called “Wander Indiana”. We had television commercials and even a catchy jingle. When the license plate came out, the word “Wander” was at the top and the word “Indiana” was at the bottom. I had an out-of-state gentleman stop me in a parking lot and say, “What’s with all of the Wander plates…? Does everyone live in Wander County or something?” Ugh.
Poor Indiana. Does any other state have quite as much trouble with license plates? It was, what?, ten years ago when some self-important idiot tried to sue the state to change the color scheme because the colors clashed with his painstakingly careful selection of a color on his Lexus or Beemer or something?
Hey tom, we don’t have any other attractions here except corn and soybean fields. No beach, no mountains, just lots and lots of flat land to watch the license plates go by.
