Left in Aboite has an excellent post on the In God We Trust license plates which Hoosiers are apparently subsidizing to the tune of $1.5 million and climbing from the Highway Fund
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I’m Funding Indiana “In God We Trust” License Plates
I remember going to renew my car registration at the Indiana BMV several years ago, and in a moment of vanity, asking about getting one of those personalized license plates. I was thinking maybe “SUMSALT” or “WEBPRO” or “TALLGY” or the like. Bu…
Those plates annoy the crap out of me. It seems like every time I get cut off it’s by someone with one of those plates. They must think God is going to protect them from me slamming into them with my car.
As I mentioned in my post last week, (which John was nice enough to mention!), this is what I just can’t understand:
I just can’t comprehend why they would pass up this chance for free revenue toward some social program in the name of affirming that we do, indeed, trust in God.
As a side note, most of the police reports I have read lately contain something along the lines of: “The suspect was last seen driving a green Ford Taurus with an “In God We Trust” license plate.
The irony will never get old…but neither will my frustration with this program.
I have a theory on the desire in some parts for wide spread proclamations of faith. I think that doubts about religion and God are much more prevalent than actually tend to be expressed. The more overwhelming the public proclamations of faith, the less likely that doubters will feel like expressing their doubt. It helps keep the status quo in place, and it helps keep religion at its exalted position in our society. “In God We Trust” is part of what helps keep the wafflers in line.
The people who would pay extra for an In God We Trust plate aren’t the target audience. Their faith is pure. It’s the people who will display the plate if given it for free and, more importantly, the people who will see the plates everywhere who are the target audience.
But, like evolution, it’s just a theory.
Ladies & gentlemen, such is the joy is having Woody Burton (yes, Caddyshack Dan’s brother) represent part of the county you live in. It was Woody who required the BMV to eat the cost of these plates as a part of the law that implemented them.
You may as well explain to your dog how this is a tax increase; the dog has a better chance of getting in than Woody. I think a large part of Johnson County is now represented by Woody in the House and Brent “The Flogger” Walker in the Senate. (Pretty sure this is the district Bob Garton got run from because he wasn’t anti-abortion enough.) It’s pretty embarassing.
I’m pretty sure Jesus had some words about the Hypocrites in the Bible… that would apply here.
As a mainstream Protestant Christian (re: fairly moderate to liberal…), these plates bug the crap out of me. First, there’s the problem Amy & thomas bring up–anytime someone with one of these plates drives like an idiot (or is seen parked at a strip club, bar, etc.), it can tend to be a black mark on anyone who believes in God (i.e., Christians are hypocrites). Second, although “in God we trust” appears on currency, there’s something so much more “in your face” about license plates. It’s not merely “ceremonial deism.” Here, the government is subsidising highly visible pronouncements of faith…ostentatious pronouncements, i’d say, a type of puffery that can make non-believers and believers who don’t believe in making such pronouncements feel like second-class citizens because they don’t have the “cool” “alternative standard” plate. If you want to put a bumper sticker or fish on your car that’s different–no government help involved there. Third, I had assumed at first that these plates were like any other alternative plate, you had to pay $40 extra to get them & $25 went to some kind of charity & $15 for the admnistrative expense…I was flabbergasted to learn that was not the case. I am hopeful that someday right wing fundamentalist Christianity is going to stop defining all Christianity in the minds of the general public but these plates are a step in the wrong direction…guessing by the outcry they’ve caused among moderates & liberals.
A. I disagree with the plates, and I agree with many of the comments here
B. I disagree with most of the paid plates as well, it is just showing off for a cause without actually giving much to it.
C. While the people that passed this bill claim to be Christian, I’m tired of everyone saying that “In God we trust” = “Christian”. I know that many loud-mouth “Christians” claim Christian ownership of the phrase, but the only thing that saying or plate identifies you with is a non-athiest.
Interesting subject.
Anyone else wondering why they’re charging $15 per plate for administrative fees for the other specialty plates if the actual cost is apparently only $3.69 (according to “Left in Aboite”)?
I must admit, I too am uncomfortable every time I see those plates. However, at the risk of sounding like an apologist; could the prevalence of this plate at least partially be explained by the abject ugliness of the standard plate? Not that I’d put one on my car, but it could be argued that the blue background and waving American flag are more aesthetically pleasing than the standard plate (offered in a color I cannot seem to identify). Absent the specialty premium, I wonder if some people choose the “God” plate more as a protest against the standard plate than as an expression of Christian unity (that would at least help explain the ones in the PT’s parking lot).
I think these plates should be called the “God Trust” or “Trust God” plates, as it seems by the way the slogan is presented, with the words “God” and “Trust” shown in much larger letters than the words “In” and “We”. Those are the only words visible at a distance. And I don’t think it is by accident.
I agree with Jason, and I say that as a believing Christian. The “God” that is mentioned on those plates is an unidentifiable one – He (it could just as easily be She) might be the one Christians believe in, or YHWH to the Jews, or Allah to the Muslims, or the Great Spirit to the Native Americans, or even Zeus to the ancient Greeks. Who can say?
Also, I don’t believe that negative views towards these license plates are somehow part of the “War on Christianity.” I may have a “loud mouth” at times, but I doan’t think Christians can take ownership of that phrase.
Who gets to have his symbols displayed publically controls part of the culture.License plates are a great way to display symbols. I have a GO CUBS license plate frame.
Lou –
The Cubs?
So you do believe in the potential for divine intervention!
I thought the rest of that money went to the charity. Probably wrong on that though.
If folks paid $3.69 for the specialty plate, it wouldn’t bother me at all. That’s what bothers me.
Or he’s a firm believer in lost causes. (Go Reds!)
I tend to agree with Jason and Brownie: Not sure–other than pandering–what reason there is for having the “In God We Trust” plates, especially offering them for free.